


Im 'etiam hic

by DragonNiro



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Angst and Humor, Blood and Injury, Body Horror, Gen, Ghosts, Heavy Angst, Horror, Psychological Horror, References to Christianity, Religion, Spirits, Spiritual, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-19 12:43:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 107,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9440921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonNiro/pseuds/DragonNiro
Summary: A family holiday to a beach town seems like the normal for any family, and it was certainly what Lucy wanted for her school holiday. However, once arriving at this town, Lucy finds herself in a situation that leads to a unveiling of a mystery dating centuries ago... Contains mentions of blood, death and Christian themes. Read and Review please!Re-posted from FanFiction.Net.





	1. CANNOT REST

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Prologue:**

**CANNOT REST**

* * *

To ( _The receiver's name of this letter seems to be smudged a bit and thus unreadable._ )

I'm sorry for the rushed letter. Everything is going down to hell right at the moment where I am. He and his partner-in-crime has pretty much screwed up the whole town and I had barely any time to write this.

Anyway, as you requested, here is the story of his partner. It's attached to the letter. Make sure to read every line of it. It might help you stop him.

* * *

_Once upon a time, in a era long ago, there existed three Pokémon friends. These three friends were the best of friends, as they did everything together when they met up. They played together, ate together, talked with each other and told secrets to one another. They thought of each other when they were separate, and often dreamt of each other when they were asleep at night. These three friends cared for each other; they would defend each other with their lives. One of these three friends had a secret that only the other two knew and the rest of the world did not: the one with the secret had a very special power._

_The power was that he could see the souls of others that have departed from the world of the living and communicate with them. He kept this secret from everybody until the day he told his friends, as he thought he would be rejected as a freak. Surprisingly, and much to the relief of the Pokémon, his friends accepted this secret as they thought it was cool to know about being able to see the souls of the dead. So; the three friends did everything together and even had a chance to talk to the spirits without anyone from their village seeing them. The village that they grew up in feared the dead and the Devil and it would cause mass panic if they knew._

_The three Pokémon grew up with this secret. As long as none of the village members knew about this, their secret was safe. They evolved and grew older._

_But then one day, everything changed. A tornado passed by the village, carving across it like steel through cloth and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. However; some of the town folk said that God had sent the tornado because there was a worshipper of the Devil living in the village and that God was angry that the injustice of persecuting the sinner hasn't happened._

_To his and his friend's horrified shock, the Pokémon that could see the souls was accused of being a worshipper of the Devil by a member of the town folk._

_The village went into a uproar, as members threw vile insults and rocks at the Pokémon, as he pleaded his innocence. Paranoia and mayhem ripped through the village as the town folk grew even more and more fearful of the Pok_ _é_ _mon, who did nothing wrong. He was eventually put on trial, with only his two friends standing by his side, pledging that he was innocent. The Pokémon's family had abandoned him due to this accusation and their fear of demons. At the trial, many witness claimed that the Pokémon was seen speaking to nothing often and realised that he was speaking to the Devil. They further accused him of various other misdeeds and unfortunate events that have occur within the village. In return, he and his friends said that the Pokémon was able to see the souls of the dead, but never once came across a demon. He also said that he was a follower of faith and he would never take orders from a demon. He would never stray from his Lord's path._

_The revelation of him able to see the spirits deepened their fear of him and they ignored what he had also said. The Pokémon was pronounced guilty of all charges and was sentenced to death. His friends battled as hard as they could to save their friend but when all else failed, the two came up with a plan. They were going to sneak into jail the night before the execution, break out their friend, and run away. The friends put the plan in motion as they snuck into jail, stole the keys to their friend's cell, and headed for the cell._

_But, to the most cruellest of fates possible, the friends were caught as they were about to unlock the cell for the Pokémon. The friends weren't punished straight away, as the town mayor was busy thinking of a punishment so cruel, it would scar anyone emotionally for life. The next day, the friends were tied onto a chair in the middle of the furious crowd, as the Pokémon that they were friends with was lead up to the execution stand, where a single noose was strapped to the beam above and a chair was under it._

_As the friends yelled in desperate anger to let their friend go, the Pokémon stood calmly as his charge was read out loud to the crowd._

_Then, one of the town folk forced the Pokémon onto the chair and put the noose around his neck. As the shouts of the crowd grew louder and the desperate pleas of his friends grew even more frantic, the Pokémon was asked what was his final words were._

_The Pokémon replied: "To my friends; I am truly and utterly sorry. I am sorry because you were associated with me... Someone who was thought to be a monster by even himself." And then, to the friend's total despair, the town folk kicked the chair away from under the Pokémon's feet, a few sickening noises escaping from his throat before his lifeless body cruelly hung from the gallows._

_Their punishment for breaking into the jail was to watch their friend die by hanging._

_After the hanging, the Pokémon's body was buried in a undisclosed location with no tombstone, and life in the village went back to normal. Every year since the Pokémon's death, a party would be thrown in celebration of getting rid of a demon worshipper and even the family of the Pokémon's would join in as well. All the village would attended, apart from the Pokémon's friends. They would sense something benevolent in the village, but they could never figure out what it was. Years passed, and the friends left the village only to return each year on the anniversary of their friend's death. Twenty years passed after the Pokémon's death, and the two friends returned to discover that mysterious deaths had be occurring in the village._

_The jury of twelve that had sent their friend to death had been picked off one by one each year, starting from when the fourteenth anniversary had passed. The town folk thought it was just mysterious circumstances but the friends knew better. They knew that the spirit of their friend was angry, restless and must have started killing them off each year. To ease the anger of their friend, they located the burial place of the Pokémon and each year after that, they read something that would calm down their friend. Each year until their deaths, they would do this. And after their deaths, their children would do it as well. Passing down through each generation, they would tell a story to the spirit in order to keep the Pokémon placated, for when no more stories have to be told, his wrath will destroy._

_And so: a story must be told at the burial site once a year, or the wrath of the Pokémon will be unleashed._

* * *

That is a story that my father told me, as his father told him, and as his father before him. This story has been passed down through many generations as a warning.

Never judge a person on based on fear and wild accusations but on how they act, even if they seem fearful or intimidating in the first. It also serves as another warning.

Never disrespect the dead.

That's all that I can for now. I'll meet you at the base. May God's light be with you.

Yours sincerely,

I. Firesoul

* * *

**Five days ago...**

* * *

**I CANNOT REST. FOR THAT, I RISE**

* * *

"And Prince Bisharp and Princess Lilligant lived happily ever after... The End..." the Meowstic told at the grave, before closing the book that he had read from. He sighed as he stood up and began walking home. With the wind blowing past him, he shivered up a bit before continuing to walk home.

This is Amos the Meowstic. He's about fifty-one years old, has a habit of talking to himself and lives in Fougueux Ville, just a mile away from where he is now. Fougueux Ville is known as a beach city, with luxurious sand and a crystal clear ocean. It is also known for having a large shopping hotel, a theme park and plenty of restaurants. But Fougueux Ville is also popular with Pokémon that are interested in all paranormal and supernatural. A few abandoned houses are located in Fougueux Ville which are known to the town as the haunted houses. It's kinda natural for the town to be called that, as Ghost Types had originally founded the town.

The town, along with the beach, mall, theme park and restaurants, uses the paranormal interest as a way to boost tourism with the town. Amos works at said theme park, and is in charge of the 'Horror' area, where horror-based rides and attractions are located. Some attractions ARE scary, but most of them are just based around horror and are not scary in reality.

But the Meowstic also has a job once a year he must do. He comes to this place, far away from the town, to read a story. He looks round nervously, and spares a glance back to where he read the story. It was a forest in the middle of nowhere, filled with vibrant greens and healthy trees, with plenty of foliage like bushes and berry plants, and an abundance in life.

However, somewhere in the forest, which Amos happened to be living from, there is a place where nothing grows. The trees in that are barren, with no leaves at all, the grass is barely there, with patches of dying grass scattered across the area while desolate dirt occupied the rest. In the middle of that area stands a barren tree. "Geez..." Amos muttered to himself as he walked through the dark forest. "...This place is feeling negative as ever... It's still under the influence of him..."

Amos doesn't choose to go there every day, but comes once a year to read a story at the base of the barren tree. He had been doing this for the past thirty years.

The thing is, Amos is a very religious Pokémon. He had been going to church as long as he remembered with his family. When he was sixteen, he had learnt about the tree's secret from his family and learned about spirits. What he learnt is that spirits can haunt different places and the one here is...particularly strong.

Amos glances around the dark forest as he walked back him, as the trees change from being barren to becoming full of life again. "His influence scares this place..." Amos murmured to himself. "The area is scared of him...My father always told me that the area must have died off in fright." Amos suddenly stops, and then face-palms. "I'm talking to myself again...Damn it! If I was back in Fougueux, the locals will think I've gone insane!"

The Meowstic then realises that the locals already think he's crazy and sighs. "I've really got to stop doing that..." Amos starts to walk again through the forest, thinking deeply.

" _I'm slightly more than half a century old and I still don't know how to exorcise him..._ " Amos thought to himself bitterly, as he continued to walk through the forest. " _It's been more than five hundred years since that spirit had died and even I don't know how to make him move on..._ "

As Amos walked to exit the forest, he heard a sudden snap. The Meowstic's ears perked up and looked around. No one should be out exploring a dark, foreboding forest in the middle of the night. Nobody but Amos, that is. The Psychic Type looked around once more. He could sense someone was nearby, despite the time of hour.

"Who's there?" Amos demanded, raising his voice to project as sense of bravery. Some noise from the shrubbery behind him was quietly made and Amos turned around to face the newcomer.

"Hmm, so this is where you've been going to after all these years.. Amos..." said the Pokémon, rather sternly. Amos frowned with confusion. He could not see who the Pokémon was due to how dark it was, nor did he recognize their voice. "Can't say that I'm not surprised. You are the one responsible for running the keepers of this town."

Amos frowned, readying an Psychic attack as he grasped the book tightly. "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

The Pokémon sighed a little, if somewhat bored. "Really? The questions? Is that what you're going to say? I really hate questions by the way...I don't know everything!"

He sighed once more, tutting a little. "But I can't blame ya for asking. Who am I, is someone that has a plan! A plan that will do great things for this world."

The Pokémon pulled something out from behind him, but due to the darkness, Amos could no see what was there.

"What I want from you...;" the Pokémon stated casually, a vileness starting to creep into his voice. "Is your eternal silence in this matter!"

Amos is taken aback from this statement. "What are you ta-" He was cut off by a flash of light, one that barely managed to reveal the face of the assailant, before a deafening noise rang out.

Amos blinked as the ringing in his ears from the deafening shot faded , just as a pain roared through his body as savagely as possible to replace the ringing, like a Pyroar tearing its prey to shreds. Amos looked down at his chest and sees that a small hole had appeared there, with blood quickly seeping out from it. He had been shot. Amos looked up at his somewhat calm killer, who's silence only intensify his calculating mind.

"W-what...W-why?" Amos asked, breathing horsely, blood coming from out his mouth before collapsing backwards. The Pokémon groaned. "Really? Another question?! Fine. I've done my research on this town. What happens within this town. What the history is and the lore around it. There's something from the past that I want. A partnership with someone who's been here and is still here."

Knowing that his final minutes are upon him, Amos asked one question through bloody coughs. "What... are you...a-after...?"

For once, the Pokémon didn't seemed annoyed by the question. "Oh, you know the name of what partner I want. In fact, it's well known amongst you lot but I shall enlighten you;" the Pokémon stated, with a thoughtful tease in their voice. "Who I want is the Demon of Fougueux Ville.'"

Amos's face widened in shock at the revelation, only for his eyes to gloss over. The Pokémon remained silently, frowning a little.

"Hmm, to be honest, I didn't want it to turn out this way. Killing isn't my forte, but in order to achieve my goal, I must do. The ends does justify the means after all..." The Pokémon remarked, somewhat sad. "I'm sorry it has to end this way for you, Amos and I know he won't like it either but I guess I'll ask for forgiveness...

But anyway, where is he?"

Suddenly a bright glow appeared behind the Pokémon, intense enough that the perpetrator felt his back heat up from it .

The Pokémon turned to the glow and smiled a little.

"Ah...There you are!"

* * *

**End of Prologue**

* * *


	2. Able to see

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As mysterious things have occurred with Fougueux Forest, we rewind time back to about a week ago, where a young Kirlia arrives within the town of Fougueux Ville....

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 1:**

**Able to see**

* * *

**Two days before the death of Amos...**

* * *

"Hmm..." the warden of the station murmured to himself, looking at his pocket-watch at the time. The Swampert sighed, as he closed the watch and put it in his jacket's top pocket. "That train is late..."

The train warden scanned the train station area, looking at Pokémon who are waiting for the train. As you could have guess it, this is Fougueux Ville's train station. The train station can get quite busy around summer time and today is no exception.

First of all, the platform of the station has its tracks to the right side of it. The platform itself is made from hard concrete, with the edge of it before the track is made from a slab of stone, clearly a different colour from the concrete itself.

The Swampert looks at the track area. "The track sure looks shiny today, with the sunshine reflecting off the metal. Shame the colour of the ballast puts it off. All covered in oil and dirt..."

The train warden Swampert then looks to the building that houses the ticket office of the station and the entrance to Fougueux Ville. The building is made from a certain type of stone that is a light grey, though no one knows what it made of. The building resembles a house of some-kind with the rim of the roof coloured a dark but smart green. The tiles of the roof are a maroon-like colour and are all neatly tightly packed into each other.

The train warden Swampert glanced at the station's long rectangle sign and frowns slightly. " _Hm..._ " he thought to himself. " _That sign...Its green paint has faded a bit...And has began to chip at some parts...Maybe it's time for a re-paint..._ "

Opposite the platform is another platform. The one that the train warden Swampert is standing on is the platform that the train goes down south, known as Platform 2. The other platform heads north, where the trains runs through cites. That is known as Platform 1 and the look of it is virtually the same. To get to the other side of the station, you simply need to cross a bridge that is above the track.

The bridge itself is made from a hard and solid wood and is well crafted. It is quite sturdy, as it was able to withstand several storms in the past. Under the part where you walk on it is a long piece of metal bolted to the wood to act as a frame and a protector from the steam of the engine.

The train warden Swampert looks around again. "Where is that blasted train?"

Suddenly, a whistle from a distance was heard by everyone on the station and the train warden Swampert smiled.

"Ah, there it is!" he remarked, as he prepared for the train to come in. The steam train then rolled into the station, puffing out warm steam as it pulled in. The carriage doors of the train flung open and the tourists began to come out in a big flow, heading out through the entrance to Fougueux Ville.

A Kirlia with a backpack stepped out of the carriage that she was in and suddenly got caught up in the massive crowd flow of tourists. Frowning, she moved out to the side so she wouldn't get dragged along outside the station.

Once she was out of the crowd, the Kirlia took off her backpack and opened it. She reached into the backpack and pulled out a pair of headphones which were attached to a portable music player in the bag and also grabbing a book. Putting the backpack back on her back, she put the headphones on and began listening to the music on the player, watching the crowd come out of the carriages.

" _Hmm...'Fougueux Ville..._ '" she thinks to herself, opening the book whilst looking around. " _Isn't that French for something? Those Ghost Types must have had a weird naming system..._ "

Suddenly, a Prinplup launches himself out of the crowd and crashes besides the Kirlia, face-planting himself onto the floor. The Kirlia glances at him before looking towards the crowd.

"...Fail..." she said, listening to her music. The Prinplup got up onto his feet extremely quickly and glared at the Kirlia, pointing his flipper at her.

"Shut up, Lucy!" he barked with comical anger, pointing at the named Kirlia. "I was doing something epic and you ignored it as usual!"

Lucy did not look at the Prinplup but was still watching the crowd. She did hear what he had said despite listening to music. "You weren't doing something epic, bro." she replied, smiling a little as she saw their parents coming towards them. "When you do something you think is 'epic', you're actually something stupid, Alastor."

This seemed to make the named Prinplup even more angry. "You take that back, you stupid little-!"

"Alastor!" a voice called, causing Alastor to jump in fright and turn to see his parents have appeared. It appears that their mother, a Gardevoir, is a bit angry as their father, an Empoleon, is standing calm.

The Gardevoir bended down and raised a finger to point angrily at Alastor, who was sweating nervously. "Alastor, I don't want to hear that kind of language from you to your sister! You be polite as normal, okay?" she stated seriously, with a hint of anger in her voice.

Alastor nodded slowly, feeling ashamed of himself. "Yes, mum..." he mumbled quietly, looking away. Lucy smirked a little, while looking away. Unfortunately for her, Lucy's mother seemed to notice her daughter's smirk. "And Lucy, you be polite to your brother as well!" she remarked with a slight angry tone while standing up with her arms crossed, causing Lucy to drop her smirk.

The Empoleon puts one of his flipper on the Gardevoir's shoulder, looking at his two children. "You two shouldn't be so rude to each other right now." he stated, having a warm glow on his face, with the Gardevoir's angry expression dropping. Taking his flipper off his wife's shoulders, he turns round to a suitcase behind him and bends down. "It's our summer holiday after all. We should be relaxing and having fun, not having any arguments." he remarked with a wistful tone in his voice as he unzipped the suitcase.

While the two children Pokémon remained silent, the Gardevoir smiled confidently. "Watcha gonna get out there, Noah?" she asked, teasingly to her named Empoleon husband. Noah chuckled a little, and immediately pulls out a large, cyan sun-hat, a straw hat with a red band around it and a small football cap. He quickly places the sun-hat on his Gardevoir wife with a cheeky expression on his face. "This, my dear Abigail...!" he went before quickly darting to place the straw hat onto Lucy and the cap onto Alastor. Abigail's cheeks puffed up in annoyance while she curled her hands in fists.

"...Noah!" she remarked, looking annoyed while seeing a cheeky grin on Noah's face while he stood behind Lucy and Alastor. The headphone-wearing Kirla is face-palming while the Prinplup is trying his hardest not to laugh. "You're just doing this to annoy me, aren't you? You know I just like being called Abby!"

Noah laughed heartily, with Alastor bursting out into laughter and Lucy just sighing. "Sorry! I couldn't resist again!" Noah went, happily. While Abigail, or Abby should I say, sighs with a small smile on her face while with her eyes closed.

"You just know how to play with me..." Abby then went to grab the suitcase that Noah had left and go along with her family. Once she joined with her family, the group of four proceed to head outside the station.

Then, time seemed to pause and everything apart from Lucy seemed to stop as well, gaining a monotone colour. Lucy then stopped and took off her headphones, putting it around her neck. She then turns her head towards the screen on which you reading on with a smirk on her face.

"So you're probably wonder, ' _what the heck is going on?'_?" she stated, looking somewhat confident in herself. Lucy turns her body towards the screen, still smirking.

"Well, I thought I oughtta fill in you lot on what's happening, since we've just introduced a few new characters!"

Lucy puts one of her hands on her chest, to point at herself. "My name is Lucina Angelo, but most people just call me Lucy for short." she started to explain, with a smile on her face. "Thank goodness that people call me Lucy. 'Lucina' sounds boring, doesn't it?"

Lucy shook her head. "Anyway, I am thirteen years old and just barely! I only had my birthday a week ago, so I'm hardly a teenager yet." Lucy smiled once more. "Geez, I get off topic quickly... I come from Espectro City, a densely populated city just north of here. My life there...hasn't been great, but I guess I can call it home. I've come on holiday to Phantasm Town to relax, play and other things that you'll do on holiday with your family! By the way, we're British!"

Lucy then took her hand off her chest and pointed to Alastor, her brother. "This is my twin brother, Alastor Angelo. He's a bit...strange, as to say. Every time he thinks he's going to do something 'epic', it usually ends up with him doing something stupid or hurting himself a bit." Lucy chuckled a little. "It's usually quite funny. But that's my brother for ya! He acts crazy almost all the time!" Lucy then frowns a little sadly. "Our...relationship...isn't exactly the best..." The Kirla shook her head once more, and then pointed towards her father and mother.

"And finally, this is my mum and dad, Abigail and Noah Angelo!" she stated proudly, turning the frown into a smile. "I love them to bits and always wanted to have fun despite them being adults with all the responsibilities and such!" Lucy sweated a bit nervously but kept her smile. "They can act a bit childish to each other sometimes, teasing each other and embarrassing me a lot...But, I still love them!"

Lucy then nodded, with a smirk. "Well, back to our regular programming!" After she had said that, Lucy put her headphones back on her head and turned back into the position that she was in before the pause. The scene then had the normal colours come back and then started again, with all the tourist Pokémon piling out of the station in droves. Lucy and Alastor proceeded to follow their parents out of the station.

As Lucy and Alastor followed their parents out, something in the corner of Lucy's eye caught her attention. As she was walking, she turned her head to what caught her attention. She then stopped walking and widened her eyes in horror.

Right in front of her, near the exit of the station, appears to be a Poliwrath. This Poliwrath is a lot paler than the usual ones you'll see and the top half of its body is opaque while the bottom half fades into becoming transparent. The Poliwrath is also looking down, completely emotionless.

A shiver goes down Lucy's spine, before rushing to her dad's side, tugging on his flipper. "Dad..." she went, somewhat fearful. Noah stopped walking and looked down at his daughter, confused. "What is it, Lucy?" he asked to her, Abby glancing over with some concern on her face.

Lucy pointed near the exit, where she sees the pale Poliwrath, which everyone in the station is ignoring completely. "I'm seeing one of ' _them_ ' again..." Noah nodded, looking up towards Abby, who looked slightly worried. "Go ahead to the hotel with Alastor. I'll sort this out."

Abby nodded, and then told Alastor to come along with the suitcases, leaving Noah's behind. As they went out, Lucy could hear Alastor groan in frustration. "You and your stupid condition! Always ruining our family time..."

The moment Abby and Alastor were out of sight, Noah went to unzip his suitcase when Lucy saw that the pale Poliwrath was beginning to notice that Lucy could see it.

"You..." it whispered loudly, only Lucy being able to hear it. "...Can...see me?"

"Dad, hurry up...!" Lucy said somewhat panicky. "It's starting to move...!" As Lucy said that, Noah pulled out a bottle of water and what seems to be a small green and red tablet. Noah then gave the tablet and bottle of water to Lucy, which she handed her father the book.

"Here ya go..." Noah murmured quietly. "Take it quickly." Lucy nodded, looking fearful of the pale Poliwrath, who is beginning to move. "Please...help...me..." The Poliwrath moans hoarsely, moving towards Lucy.

Lucy quickly unscrewed the lid off the bottle of water and placed the tablet in her mouth. She then took a mouth full of water before swallowing the tablet along with the water.

Noah patted his Kirla daughter by the side and then proceeded to zip the suitcase back up. "As you already know, it will take a while for the effect to kick in, but for now, let's just head over to the hotel."

Lucy nodded to that, seeing that the pale Poliwrath is beginning to fade from her vision ever so slowly. Then, she and her Empoleon father soon exited out of the hotel quickly, leaving the pale Poliwrath behind, somewhat confused. "...What...just happened?" it asked, not sure what happened. Then, a Charizard exactly in the same condition as the Poliwrath appeared, going straight through the wall without breaking it. "I have no clue, man." the pale Charizard remarked to the Poliwrath with the same level of confusion. "But, man, you got to stop talking like that. It even creeps me out."

The pale Poliwrath floated there for a few seconds, before crossing its arms and looking annoyed. "...Touché..."

* * *

**FROM THE GRAVE. I AM ALONE**

* * *

**Ten minutes later...**

* * *

Noah and Lucy walked into the lobby of the hotel with quick strides, and then stopped to catch their breath. In this meantime, Lucy took her time to notice her surroundings of the hotel's lobby. The lobby consists of a large space with the check-in desk to the side of the entrance. In the middle of the large space is a big red, black and cream rug with a rose design on it, with the roses being red and black. In the middle of this rug are many different seats, some single while others are couches, but all luxurious. Some are coloured a scarlet red while others are a slight yellow-ish cream. There are also some coffee tables near these chairs.

" _Geez, the floor is shiny..._ " Lucy thought somewhat surprised, looking down on the floor. The floor itself is made out of marble slabs, though it looks like one of the employees spent a quite a bit of time getting the floor spotless as it is clear enough to see your own reflection in it.

Lucy then noticed a Lucario pushing away a mop and bucket into another room, muttering to itself. Lucy shrugged her shoulders. "Wonder what that's all about?" she murmured to herself, curiously.

Lucy then shook her head and looked round again, seeing that there is a flight of stairs to the left of the rug. Like the floor, the stairs are also made out of marble, but have a wooden lining to the edge of it, made from birch, from the looks of it.

The stairs obviously lead upwards, but has handrails by the side. It then goes left, upwards towards the rooms. Lucy then looked up. "Huh..." she went to herself. "The rooms are over there..." What Lucy said is true, as above her is a set of elevators, with a corridor to the left of them. A small balcony leading the stairs gives enough walking space to the elevators. A set of them are also on the ground floor, right in front of the rug.

Since she was on the other side of the rug, Lucy turns to see the front desk. The desk seems to be made from a rich dark wood, which seems to be made from mahogany, though the top of the desk has a layer of glass on it. Lucy noticed that her father has finished catching his breath and now is talking to the Pokémon behind the desk, which appears to be a smartly dressed Tangrowth with a bowtie. The Tangrowth nodded to Noah and passed a set of keys to him.

"Your wife and son are in Room 25. We hope you'll have a nice time at our hotel!" the Tangrowth stated to Noah with a chippy tone. Noah nodded to the Tangrowth clerk and turned round towards Lucy.

The two then started to head towards their room by going up the stairs. But when they reached the bottom of the stairs, suddenly, a Luxio with a large bag by its side shot out quickly and collided with Lucy, knocking each other off their feet.

Lucy, a bit dazed, looked up in surprise to see her father rushing to help her up, while the Luxio had recovered immediately and seemingly trying to pick up some items, which then Lucy realised that the items came from the Luxio's bag.

"Argh, look at what yer done!" the Luxio snapped angrily at Lucy, in what appears to be a light Irish accent.

Judging from how the pitch of this Luxio's voice is and what the fur is like, this Luxio is a female. Lucy is taken aback by the Luxio, as she appear to be larger than a regular Luxio. Lucy couldn't tell how much bigger this Luxio is, but she'll have to say that the Luxio is roughly one or two meters larger than a regular Luxio. The next odd thing about the Luxio is that its skin colour is darker than usual for a Luxio, though not that much. An odd mark is around the Luxio's left eye but Lucy can't seem to see what it is.

The Luxio grabbed a lot of the items, which appears to be some small bottles with herbs in them. "Yer had to make me go and drop 'em! Yer should have been watching where you were going, you freaking eejit!"

"Excuse me!" Noah remarked, furious and offended by the Luxio's attitude. "You're the one that ran into my daughter. You're the one that should have been watching where they are going! You came out of nowhere!"

The Luxio turned her head round and stared angrily at Noah. "Oh piss off, yer wa-" Suddenly, an beeping sound resonates from the Luxio's bag and she groans. "Oh great! Now I'm late because of yer two!" The Luxio then ran off, out of the hotel entrance, leaving Noah and Lucy utterly bewildered. "What on earth was that all about? I must lodge a complaint about that Luxio..." Noah asked, confused. Lucy wasn't paying attention to what her father was saying, as she was looking at the floor, where a single silver cross was. " _That Luxio must have forgotten to pick it up..._ " Lucy thought to herself, frowning with some confusion.

She then proceeded to pick up the silver cross and inspected it. Looking it over, Lucy finds a small inscription on the back. " _Huh...'_ _ **If this item was found, please return to Jacqueline Thunderstorm ASAP**_ '..." Lucy frowns once more, looking at the entrance with some confusion. " _So her name is Jacqueline...?_ "

Lucy shakes her head and tells her father that they should head to their room, with a thought at the back of her mind thinking that next time she encounters that Luxio, Lucy should return the cross. But, for now, Lucy is just holding onto it for safe-keeping, unknowing of the events that have started to play the moment that cross came into her hands.

* * *

**To be continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! See ya!


	3. Live and let die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After encountering a oddly large Luxio with an irish accent, Lucy begins to settle into her holiday by exploring the town....but with a sinster text and some mysterious Pokemon plotting something, who knows what could happen?

**Im 'etiam hic:**

**Chapter 2:**

**Live and let die**

* * *

**44 hours until the death of Amos...**

* * *

Lucy, following her father and holding the silver cross that the unusually large Luxio dropped, walked into their hotel room, with Alastor and Abby and were immediately met with the whites and blues darting across the wall.

"Huh..." Lucy murmured to herself, looking over at the back where a large air-conditioning unit was, next to the glass door leading to the balcony. "An air conditioning unit...?"

Lucy could make out the rest of the hotel from, but could also see parts of Fougueux Ville, the local shopping district and some of the beach from the view, hemmed in by the curtains dangling over the doorframe. She smiled at the sight.

"I like that curtain's leaf green colour..." she hummed to herself.

In front of the curtain and glass doorway are the beds. There are two single beds and one master bed, each with a white and navy blue duvet and a white pillow. They also have a bedside table. There is a phone between the second single bed and the master bed, coloured cream. Between the two single beds is a lamp stand. From looking at the beds, Lucy's attention then turns to where it's pointing at.

Upon a medium sized table with a light green bin underneath, stands a small but reasonable sized flat screen TV, which appears to be off at the moment. The black remote for it lays untouched next to it. Behind the wall that the TV is placed is the bathroom. Lucy could tell that it was the bathroom, because she could hear running water from the taps. The door leading to it is currently close.

Having another look, Lucy noticed that Alastor is on the single bed next to the balcony, currently unpacking and her bag is on the next single bed.

Lucy sees her father sighing, then proceeds to go out to the balcony. He leans on the metal railing and grins.

"Well, look at this at this view!" Noah went, with somewhat of a happy tone in his voice, watching the view. A click of the bathroom door is heard, and Lucy looks over to see her mother come out of the bathroom, muttering something to herself.

"Everything in there is clean so that's fine..." Abby murmured to herself, if she was researching the bathroom or something.

She then noticed Noah over by the balcony and gave a small smile before going over to her father. Alastor just rolled his eyes.

"Preparing for embarrassment, Lucy?" he remarked as he continued to unpack.

Lucy nodded. Sometimes, their parents would have a sweet moment which would lead to them accidentally embarrassing her and Alastor. Letting out a sighing, Lucy turned away as some little laughter from her parents made their way into the room, and went over to her bag. After rummaging through a few items, she found her phone and immediately noticed it had a message on it:

* * *

_To Lucy_

_From: 02828 665533_

_hey u s***! Hows that stupid holiday of urs? :) ;) that place u said u were going 2 sounds so f*****g boaring. But again sounds just like u! U pathetic nerd! We all hope u die in a hole somewhere! XD lol lmao hope u have a nice time, not! Xd xoxoxo_

* * *

Lucy frowned, face blank as she read the message over and over again. Sighing, the Kirlia closed down her phone and put it away in her bag, while unpacking the rest of her stuff.

" _That's the twentieth one now..._ " Lucy thinks to herself, somewhat bitter and feeling a knot in her chest form.

She looks over her shoulder to find her parents are still having their moment of lovingly teasing each other while Alastor looks confused at her.

"What's the matter?" he asked, curiously while cocking his head slightly to the right, having finished unpacking. "You seem a bit out of it..."

Lucy scowls and then turns her head back round to finish unpacking. "It's nothing!" she replied with some anger in her voice. She then sighs again, this time a bit sad. "It's nothing..."

Alastor, not taking the hint of sadness in her voice, shrugged. " All right, then." As Alastor turned his attention else where, Lucy frowned with a bit of bitterness in her voice.

" _First the hallucinations again and now this... This holiday is going off to a great start!_ " Lucy thought to herself rather sarcastically. " _Alastor's being a idiot as usually..._ "

Lucy, taking off her headphones, then looked at her phone again with some sadness in her heart, as the knot inside of her increases a little.

" _How did she find out about that...I wish she'll just leave me alone...I'm sick of this..._ "

Lucy then noticed something that she had unpacked from her bag, a small book that appears to be well-read, considering there to be creased parts on the front and tearing off at some parts on it. On the cover, it read as ' _ **The Case of Good or Evil**_ ' and it was written by ' ** _Melody O. Etta_** '. Lucy smiled a little, having that knot inside of her loosen up a little.

"You brought that old thing here?!" Alastor questioned rhetorically and in a teasing manner, grabbing the book off Lucy's bed.

"HEY!" Lucy yelled, angrily. "Give that back!"

Alastor jumps onto his bed and pulls down on one of his eye lids while sticking out his tongue, teasing Lucy. "Make me!"

Growling in anger, Lucy gets up on Alastor's bed to get the book back. But, seeing that Lucy is after him, the Prinplup then proceeds to jump over to Lucy's bed, taking the book with him. Eyebrows furrowing with anger, Lucy jumps over back to her bed and proceeds to chase Alastor round the beds, with him laughing.

Abby, glancing over to see what's happening from the balcony, sighs.

"What's wrong?" Noah asked, curiously, wondering why his wife had stop showing affection. Abby simply points over to what Alastor and Lucy are doing.

Seeing what they are doing, Noah turns round to face inside of their room and frowns a little. "Alastor, please stop teasing your sister."

When it was apparent that Alastor didn't hear what his father said, Abby sighs once more. Beginning to glow and a flick of a wrist, Abby used her psychic powers to move some of Alastor's items to different places on his bed. As the Prinplup jumped onto his bed, he tripped up on some of his items, causing to fall down off his bed onto the floor, face-planting onto the carpet.

"AHH! MY FACE! IT IS A HURTING!" Alastor yells quite loudly, though slightly muffled. Abby looked surprised as she did not intend for that to happen while Lucy face-palms herself.

"You idiot, it shouldn't hurt that much..."

Comedic, Alastor got up quite quickly and began rubbing his face gentle. "Huh...You're right..." he went, somewhat simply. He then puffs up in pride. "I guess I'm tougher than I actually thought! I AM STRONG!" he goes, raising his flippers up in the air. He then blinks and gets up, looking at his mother, confused.

"Mum, why did you make me trip up?"

"I was only intending to make you fall onto your bed, not on the floor...But thank goodness you weren't hurt." Abby explained with a motherly tone in her voice, closing her eyes.

"But the reason I did it in the first place is that you were teasing your sister again. How many times do I have to tell you got to tell you to stop that?!"

Alastor frowned, crossing his flippers and looking away, muttering something unintelligible in annoyance. Lucy said nothing, snatching her book back from Alastor. Noah, looking round to try and defuse the situation, stepped forward, getting out two twenty pound notes, handing one each to them.

"Why don't you kids go check out the town?" he asked, fairly, surprising Lucy and Alastor. "This is a holiday after all! Go have fun! Just stick together, okay?"

The two young children Pokémon look at each and smiled.

"And, Alastor..." Noah goes calmly, looking at the young Prinplup, who looks up at his father.

"Don't waste it on arcades, would ya?"

* * *

**AS I WAS ABANDONED BY THE ONES I LOVE AND CARED ABOUT.**

* * *

"I'mma gonna spend this on arcade games!"

"WHAT DID DAD JUST TELL YOU?!"

Lucy, with her headphones on, and Alastor, with his hat on, arrived at Fougueux Ville centre, which is just outside the train station. Currently, they are facing south of the station, which appears to have a bus stop to it.

But, we're delaying here!

I'm gonna describe what the town looks like, well more of the area that our main characters are currently in!

From behind the station, you can see roads with a lot of housing on it, going steadily up and down, since Fougueux Ville is built upon a series of wide but not high hills. One could imagine some kind of playground around that area.

But that area is the west of the station. To the east, it's pretty much the same, apart from the exception of some local pubs (bars to you Unovians.) some in that area. The smell of petrol can be apparently smelled around that area, suggesting a bus depot or a garage of some sort. A tower can be seen in the midst of it. It's not a foreboding tower but rather the tower that you would see being part of a large Christian Church. You could tell due to a stone crossed carved at the top. One could see the entire town from there. A few houses seem to be built on a much larger hill to the east, though they seem to be abandoned due to the forest nearby.

Where our main characters are facing, is the town itself, with the shops and other various stores.

From the front on the right, a store that seems to be selling different variants of alcohol can be seen. Next to it is a newsagents, selling newspapers and different types of sweets (candy to you Unovians.) to the generally public. Next, is what appears to be a bank of some sort. After that, a opticians, a cafe and a book-store named ' **Intoxiquer's Bookshop** ', which appears to catch Lucy's attention.

After the bookshop, there appears to be a closed down store before a road leading to somewhere else in town. On the other side of the road, on the wall of the next shop, seems to be a cartoon image of a Charizard wearing a chef's hat while surrounded by different coloured chocolates.

"' _Visit Coco Charlie's Chocolates today_!'" Lucy reads from a distance, somewhat surprised. Though he can't read from that much of a distance, Alastor is still able to see the image. He cringes in sight of it.

"Geez, that looks really silly..." he remarked, cringing a little. The two then see the next shop, which appears to be an item shop selling different trinkets and items. Next few shops are nothing to be of interesting, being a travel shop, a furniture shop, an arts and crafts shop, another bookshop and a betting shop. Next to those seems to be an pantry, selling cakes and all sweet things.

The two can't see what shops are beyond that as the road curves to the right and disappears from view.

On the left side of the South Street appears to be a housing agents with some building work going on it, seeing support beams and such.

Next to that is a food shop, a large one indeed, with different Pokémon going in there to buy food. After that, there are some other stores, such as a TV Shop, another cafe ("This town likes it's cafes!" Alastor remarked, somewhat cheekily.), a beach shop that sells items for a local beach and a jewellery store.

Another road cuts through the previous mentioned shop and the next, which appears to be a series of restaurants, which includes another bakery selling sandwiches and such, a sandwich selling shop, a small Japanese Restaurant and an American Diner, odd due to Fougueux Ville's main population to be British.

From what a nearby sign says, this diner leads into the town's arcades, which has gotten Alastor's attention.

Finally, at the end from what they can see, across the street from the diner, appears to be a cinema, showing films there. A scent of the sea drifts from over there, suggesting that the cinema is near the beach. The roads have some cars coming in and out, but the pavements have lots of different Pokémon going up and down with some of them locals and some of them tourist.

Alasor grins, seeing the sign towards the arcades, rubbing his flippers together with excitement.

"Ah, an arcade is just round the corner...!" he went, looking ecstatic.

"I can't wait to go and play!"

Lucy face-palms herself, not believing that she's stuck with her brother.

"I thought Dad told you not to go waste the money on those games!" she went, looking somewhat annoyed, crossing her arms together with a frown on her face.

"Why don't you spend it on something else... Like a book for example?"

Alastor looked at Lucy calmly. "Well, I do admit that books can be exciting with the interesting stories..." he went, simply. "However, they're not my thing! Besides, we're on holiday! We shouldn't be reading boring old books, we should be having fun! Books aren't fun on a holiday! Unless they're manga..."

And on that bombshell, Alastor proceeded to cross the street, leaving Lucy behind.

"But books are fun for me..." she murmured to herself, somewhat hurt by what Alastor had just said. She then follows Alastor across the the street, making sure to look both ways before hand. Once she crossed the street, she caught up with Alastor, who is looking at some advertisements on the newsagents' window.

"Hmm..." Alastor goes, looking at the adverts, surprised at some things that the adverts are saying. "There seems to be plenty of things to do here in Fougueux Ville."

Lucy takes a look as well. "Huh... A theme park is nearby, a crazy golf is also... Flyers for that Coco Charlie's...Huh, what's this?"

Lucy points towards an advert, which appears to be from that book-store that they saw a little bit down the road.

The advert appears to be a cartoon image of a Crobat on the front with a clock on it's chest. Some writing appears to be on the front.

"' _Intoxiquer's Bookshop! Now selling Manga!_ '" Lucy reads off, frowning a little. "How ridiculous is that?"Lucy turns her head to find Alastor already bolting down the street to the bookshop, shoving past some Pokémon.

Sighing in annoyance, Lucy then teleported to where Alastor is, which is in the shop. Intoxiquer's Bookshop has a simply layout. On all the walls, apart from one red door at the back, there are tall, dark brown-colour bookshelves stacked against them. Each one of them have a different note upon the top depending on the book's type. One note says 'Cooking' while another says 'DIY'. In the middle of the shop, two shorter but longer bookshelves are placed, which one of them appears to have manga on it.

The floor of the shop is a red carpet, scarlet red to be in face, while the walls, though barely seen, are cream-coloured.

At the front of the shop, next to the doors, is the counter for the sales of the shop. A Simipour is standing behind the counter, eating what appears to be a bento, probably from the Japanese Restaurant across the street. The Simipour's hair seems more curlier than a usual Simipour's but apart from that, the Simipour attendant looks normal.

A name tag can be seen, which says: ' _Hi! My name is Kiri!_ ' on her.

Lucy looks ahead and sees that Alastor reading a manga book, well involved in it. The manga itself is named ' _Fishcake Whirlpool_ ', which from what Lucy had overhead Alastor say to his friend in the past, involves a young Froakie wanting to become the best ninja there is. Smirking to herself, she crosses her arms as she approaches him.

"Books are boring, huh?" she went, somewhat teasing and surprising Alastor a little, almost dropping the book. "But then I see you here reading a book! A bit hypocritical, eh?"

"S-shut up!" Alastor yelled, slightly embarrassed, blushing a but. "I just like reading comics and manga, kay?"

A clack is heard and the two turn to see Kiri the Simipour looking annoyed at them, having putting down some chop-sticks. "Sumimasen, but can you be quieter, please?" Kiri asked still annoyed, in a thick Japanese accent, though understandable. "Owner-San is currently sleeping at the moment and you won't like it when he's angry. I don't need him getting angry because of you bakas!"

The two nodded. "I'm completely sorry..." Lucy went, apologising sincerely, with Alastor nodding.

"Sometimes, I can't tell when my voice is too loud..." he remarked, putting a flipping behind his head. "Sorry about that."

Kiri nodded slowly, looking weary of them before returning to her meal. Alastor sighs as he goes to put the manga book back.

"I've been meaning to ask you something that's been bothering me for a while." he remarked, leaning on the shelf a little.

Lucy looks slightly surprised, taken aback. "What is it?" she asked, curious on what her brother has to say. "Why do you have to be right all the time?"

Lucy frowns somewhat annoyed. "What do you mean?"

Alastor then scowls, looking angry. "Ever since I can remember, I've always been told off for everything that I did to try and make you play with me or at least smile! Playing tag, throwing the ball, even this morning when I took your book! Why are you so miserable all the time?! Is it because of your stupid condition?!"

"Excuse me?!" Lucy remarked, very offended, putting on of her hands against her chest.

"All since I've remembered, you've been an idiot constantly! Doing stupid things to make yourself look 'epic'! It makes you look like you're dumb! I've had to put up with your idiotic actions even since I can remember! And my condition has nothing to do with it!"

"Yes it has!" Alastor argued angrily, causing the Simipour to become extremely agitated.

"No it hasn't!" Lucy argued back, as angry as her brother is.

"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP?!"

A suddenly flapping of wings can be heard, and the red door at the back is opened. A Crobat flies in, looking annoyed with bags under his eyes, probably from tiredness.

"I'M TRYING TO GET SOME SLEEP HERE AND I CAN'T DUE TO YOU TWO BOZOS YELLING AT EACH OTHER!" The Crobat shouts, angrily, scaring the two siblings. He then turns to Kiri, suddenly becoming calm.

"Ah, Kiri! Sorry for yelling! Slightly bit annoyed, I am. I'll take you out to eat later on as an apology, kay?"

Kiri nodded slowly, unsure on what the Crobat will say next. The Crobat then turns his attention back to Lucy and Alastor. "I get you kids. You're siblings that argue over things!" The Crobat remarked, looking annoyed.

"But don't do it in my store during the day. I'm nocturnal, you see?!"

Alastor nodded, slightly scared. "It's because you're a Crobat, right?"

This seemed to make the Crobat even more annoyed. "NO SHIP, SHERLOCK!" he roared, making the two jump.

"Argh, would ya give 'em a break, Intoxiquer?!" a voice called out in an Irish accent. "Yer only gonna blow their ears out!"

Lucy gasped, and turned round to see that the Luxio from earlier has just walked into the store while Alastor got an earful from the Crobat, apparently called Intoxiquer. The Luxio appears to be annoyed, though not having her bags on her last time.

"I could hear ya from across the street!" the Luxio remarked, looking very annoyed. "I bet the whole town could 'ear yer screaming! What's wrong this time?"

Intoxiquer landed on one of the short bookshelves and then pointed towards the Angelo siblings.

"This two were having a loud argument in me store and they bloody woke me up!" Intoxiquer complained angrily, startling Alastor quite a bit. "Then this little enragement penguin had to state the obvious! It pisses me off!"

The Luxio simply laughs heartily, almost doubling over in laughter. "Ya pissed off 'cause yer cranky from being woken up?!" the Luxio went, recovering from laughter. "That's funny, Intoxiquer!" The Luxio then turns to Kiri, who was trying to not to laugh. "It's funny, isn't it Kiri?"

Kiri nodded. "Hai!"

Intoxiquer sighs, annoyed. "It's too early for me..." he muttered to himself, rather annoyed.

"I'm sorry for me and my brother to waking you up, sir..." Lucy went, bowing to the Crobat as her way to say sorry.

Intoxiquer stares at the Kirlia intensely for a few seconds before turning his attention to Alastor, who is too nervous to speak in fear of inducing the Crobat's wrath. He then sighs once again. "Eh, apology accepted. If you two are going to argue again, please do it away from here..."

Intoxiquer then looks over to Kiri. "Keep up the good work, Kiri." he stated to her, with a sleepy smile on his face.

"Hai, Owner-San!" Kiri affirmed, nodding. The Crobat then flies back back through the red door and closes it, without saying anything.

Alastor then turns to see the Luxio and grins. "Thanks for that...I think. You really saved our butts there!"

"No problem, 'enragement penguin'!" the Luxio went, snickering a bit, causing Alastor to be annoyed.

"HEY!"

Lucy steps forward, bring out the silver cross the Luxio had dropped earlier. "Um...you ran into me earlier and dropped this..."

Upon seeing the cross, the Luxio becomes taken aback, surprised. "Ah!" she yelped, surprised. "I dropped it?! No wonder I couldn't find it earlier!" The Luxio takes the cross off Lucy and puts it around her neck. "Phew! At least Ignatius won't be angry at me any more! I own ya two one!" The Luxio is then surprised, looking at Lucy intently. "Wait, aren't ya the Kirlia I ran into earlier?"

Lucy then nodded, somewhat nervously, while Alastor still looks angry from what the Luxio called him. The Luxio then grins. "Well thank yas, you feek! Sorry about earlier! I was in a rush to get somewhere, ya see?"

Lucy nodded, becoming relaxed. "Ah, that's fine! I'm Lucy Angelo by the way..." She then points to Alasor, who's looking annoyed. "...and this is my brother, Alastor."

The Luxio grinned once more. "Please to meet ya! As ya probably know by now by reading the inscription on me cross, the name's Jacqueline Thunderstorm!"The Luxio then frown. "But I don't like being called Jacqueline, 'owever. Just called me 'Jack'!"

Alastor nodded. "Please to meet you, Jack." he went, calming down a bit. Jack then looked to him.

"Same here, enragement penguin!" Jack grinned, taking the mick out of Alastor. Seeing that the Prinplup is getting annoyed, she then turns back to Lucy.

"Are ya guys new around Fougueux? I never seen yas before." Jack questioned, curiously. Lucy nodded.

"Yep. We're on holiday at the moment and we're pretty much new to the town." she replied, smiling a little.

Jack nodded, a thoughtful expression is on her face. "I sees. So the two of yas are tourists, eh?" She then grinned. "As an apology for crashing in ya earlier, why don't I take both of ya round Fougueux Ville, show ya the area a bit more? It's the least I could do after ya returning me cross!"

Lucy nodded, with a smile. "Sure, that would be nice!"

Jack then smirk. "All right! Let's go!"

Jack then proceeds to walk out of the store, with Lucy following. Alastor sighs as he begins to following, muttering something unintelligible under his breath in annoyance.

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

* * *

"So, are we gonna stand here and twiddle or get down to business?" a figure clouded by shadows asked, rather annoyed.

Another figure shakes it's head. "Well, we will, once the boss gets here. He's...busy doing something important for the plan."

"Which is?" questioned yet another figure.

"Extracting a powerful one, I heard." the second figure went, sounding distant. "The most powerful one for the plan, apparently."

"Huh..." the first figure murmured to itself, rather bored. "...If so, what's taking so long...?"

"Maybe there's a seal or more on this one?" the third figure suggested. "I heard some have seals on them to prevent them from getting loose due to how powerful they can be?"

The second figure nodded. "Yeah, that's probably why. This one does have a title to it, though."

"What is it?" the first figure asked inquisitive.

"' _The Demon of Fougueux Ville_ '..." a fourth voice is heard, after a door opens suddenly. The three figures turn towards a fourth figure coming in, limping a bit.

"Boss!" the third went, surprised. "What happened to you?!"

"He's more powerful than I first expected..." the fourth figure went, known as 'Boss'. It then grinned, somewhat evilly.

"...That's better than I expected...I think we'll be more powerful than I first thought...!"

"Really, Boss?" the first figure went, surprised as the other three. Boss nodded, smirking.

"'Consumed by the corrupted rage of darkness...'" Boss starts, gripping it's paw together. "'...the Demon of Fougueux Ville shall rise again from the ashes...'"

The Boss Pokémon then chuckles a little. "I clearly underestimated him... I guess it will take a bit more time to release him." he stated, seriously. He then turns to the first figure.

"Sakura." Boss started, looking serious. "I have a job for you."

The first figure, known as Sakura, nodded. "What is it, Boss?"

"I have heard rumours around the underground of Fougueux Ville that a certain Pokémon keeps the Demon under control. I want you to find him and follow him.

I have heard that it's near the time of the ritual to keep him under control. If that's true, tell me straight away.

I have a plan to get the Demon under our control through this way."

Sakura nodded, leaning a bit. "Sounds like my kind of thing! I won't fail you, Boss!"

The Boss smirked callously. "I know you won't."

He then looks at all three of them. "After we find out when the ritual will take place, we will soon take over Fougueux Ville and then..."

He then grins. "...Re-build this world in God's image! Understood?"

"YES SIR!" Sakura and the three other figures chanted.

The Boss Pokémon smirked once more.

"Excellent!"

* * *

**To be continued...**

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, we got mysterious forces lurking about with plans we don't know of yet. And what do they mean by 'him'? Tell me what you think below! It doesn't hurt to say something! It really helps if you review. It can help me out because it can help me improve my story!
> 
> Anyway, I'll see you lot later! Bye!


	4. Everything and Nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Lucy and Alastor meeting up with Jack, the large Luxio with a Irish accent, the three explore the town of Fougueux Ville. However, it appears there's something watching from the shadows.....

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 3:**

**Everything and Nothing**

* * *

**40 hours until the death of Amos….**

* * *

 

Noah leaned on the balcony's railing, looking over the hotel and the town from his family's room, wearing a concerned expression. His wife, Abby, finished unpacking their stuff when she noticed Noah's peculiar expression. Knowing from all the years that she's know him, Abby can tell something is worrying him. Going over to the Empoleon's side, Abby then noticed the view from the balcony.

"Wow…" she remarked, trying to get Noah's attention. "Look at that view!"

"…." Noah went, clearly deep in thought. Quickly catching onto Noah's seriousness, Abby then frowned, gaining a serious face as well. She then looked at the view once more.

"What's bothering you, Noah?" she asked, serious. Noah, after a few seconds, sighs, giving relief to Abby a little bit.

"It's….Lucy." Noah started, still thinking deeply. "She saw another one of…..'them' earlier. I didn't expect 'them' to be here…." Abby gasped, surprised by this.

"Did you give her one of the medication?" Noah nodded in response of Abby's question, still looking over the balcony.

"From what I could tell from Lucy's reaction, there was one of 'them' there." He explained rather serious and mysterious. "But there might be more, and I don't know how many tablets I have left to keep it at bay for long if that's the case…." Tensing his claws up in frustration, Noah gripped the railing hard. "Damn it…! I thought there would be less of 'them' here….." Abby nodded, frowning.

"Well, this town is said to be haunted by its past and maybe there's an unusually amount of them here…." Abby suggested, calmly and thoughtful. "Maybe there's a store here that has the medication on sale?"

Sighing, Noah calmed down, nodding to what Abby suggested. "…..You're right. We need to get more of the medication, for Lucy's sake."

Abby smiled, sincerely. "There's my husband!"

* * *

"So, where are you taking us, Jack?" Alastor curiously asked, flippers behind his head. Jack looked back at the Prinplup.

"Well, enragement penguin!" Jack replied with a cheeky grin. "Imma only gonna and take the both of yer to the best place in town!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT, YOU DAMN GIGANTIC LUXIO!"

"I'M 4,4, YOU IDIOT! I'M NOT THAT MUCH BIGGER!"

Lucy sighed, but smiled a little as she looked round on where they were going. The place that they were going was to the right of the theatre that Lucy had saw earlier.

The road going to the right of the theatre is blocked off, due to it leading off into the beach and is used for events near or on the beach. Speaking of the beach, it is a luscious, golden beach, which is also quite lengthy in size. It appears to start near the theatre and stopping somewhere in the distance by the side of a massive cliff-side. Several houses can be seen built on the cliff but much closer to the town, as the cliff extended out to sea.

Speaking of the sea, it is a crystal clear sea, being able to see through the clear water near and far. You could also see Fougueux Ville's harbour, where some sailing and fishing boats can be seen. Back on the main land, the road that is used for events stretches out to near to the houses, probably cut off the other end and have the road lead somewhere else in town.

In-between the two cut-off points is a series of little beach huts that Pokémon use to rent out for the summer. This starts off from the other end of the road and stops just before this little park area, which there is some stairs leading up to a restaurant and a small amusement park, unlike the big one that's on the outskirts of Fougueux.

Next to that park area is an ice-cream shop, which has more or less competitors on the same stretch of road, with one opposite and one further down. And, finally, the first ice-cream shop is next to an arcade, where Lucy, Alastor and Jack seem to be heading towards to. This arcade actually leads into the American Diner that Lucy saw earlier.

As Alastor noticed where they are heading to, his eyes lit up in excitement while Lucy sighs. Jack then proceeded to stop and turn round with a grin.

"'ere ya 'ave it!" Jack remarked, pointing towards the arcade with a grin. The two siblings listen in closer to hear the sound of arcade machines being used, along with the sound of money dropping from other machines. "The best place 'ere in Fougueux Ville for youths…. The arcade!" Jack continue to say, looking happy. "'When the boring adults are away, bring yer shams to 'Fougueux Ville's Fun-land' arcade today'!"

While Lucy and Alastor look confused on what Jack had said, the Luxio chuckles a little. "I don't expect ya to 'eard it before, so I don't blame the both of yas. It's a saying 'hat the local youth say around 'ere."

With a cocky grin, Jack points towards Lucy and Alastor with a paw. "After all, yer tourist in these parts. But, 'hat doesn't matter! The thing is, anyone who loves games come 'ere at some point when they come to Fougueux Ville!"

Lucy glanced at her brother for a moment, who looks extremely excited, then sighed. "Why don't we just he-"

Not even before allowing his sister to finish her sentence, Alastor sped off into the arcade, to play the video games inside. Lucy sighs once more, annoyed, while Jack laughed heartily.

"Ahaha….!" Jack went, looking rather jolly. "You two are a barrels of laughs, ain't ya?" Lucy sweats a bit nervously, not sure what to say. After Jack had finished laughing, the two proceeded to head into the arcade, where the sounds of games and money only increased.

Everywhere in the arcade Lucy could see, she could see different variates of games. Near the front of the arcade's entrance is the classic claw games, where you need to control a claw to pick up a prize. As far as Lucy is aware of, she doesn't know anyone who's won that game. Behind that area is another area, with more types of games, such as racing games, shooting games, rhythm games, ect, ect.

Next to that area is are ticket games. These sorts of games are played for tickets which can be exchanged for prizes. These sorts of games can be Whack-a-Drilbur for example. At the back of the arcade is the more adult games, slots machines for example. This area is closed off for under 18s, according to Jack. More adult games like Poker or Roulette are located between the arcade and the American Diner, apparently. With the intensity of the sounds increasing a little, Lucy winced in pain a little and then covered her head to block out the sound. Jack seemed to notice what the Kirlia was doing.

"Too noisy for ya?" Jack question, curiously, glancing over to check on the Kirlia. Lucy nodded, still covering her head. Jack frowned a little, and turned her attention to the arcade. "Ya get used to it." She remarked nonchalantly. "Even I got used to it after a while. I got sensitive ears, ya see?"

Lucy smiled a little, letting go of her head. The noise did hurt her hearing after a while but like Jack said, she got used to it.

As the two went to play a bit on the crane games, Lucy felt curious about Jack, who was getting a pond coin out of her fur. "Hey Jack…."

"Yeah?" the Luxio went, inserting the pound coin in to have a go on the crane game.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead!"

"You seem to know a lot about Fougueux Ville, but…." Lucy started to ask, nervous on what ask.

"But me accent says otherwise, right?" Jack butted in suddenly, surprising Lucy. Embarrassed by trying to ask such a personal question, Lucy noticed that Jack is glancing at her, calm. "Don't worry about it, Feek." Jack stated calmly, going back to her crane game. "It's a question I get asked a lot."

As Jack used her paws on the joystick to guide the crane around, she continued to explain. "The thing is, me parents and I used to live back somewhere different back when I was only a wee fierce Shinx! But we would always travel around the place. It was pure fun!"

"So, how come you live in Fougueux Ville now?" Lucy asked more deeply, curious about on how Jack came to live in Fougueux Ville. Jack remained silent at this question, focusing on the machine. As the crane grabbed the prize inside, it proceed to go drop it in the win-zone, but due to how rigged these machines are, the claw opens slightly, dropping the prize down.

"DAMN IT!" Jack yelled in frustration, rather loudly, startling Lucy. "I swear this machine is banjaxed!" Sighing, Jack turns round to face Lucy with an emotionless expression, though Lucy could swear that a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Well…." Jack went, somewhat reluctantly. "….'hats something I don't like talking about. It's kinda a sore subject, ya see?"

Lucy nodded, seeing that Jack doesn't want to talk about how she came to live in Fougueux Ville. Something nagged her at the back on her mind. Jack seemed very talkative until the mention of why she came to live here. Maybe it's a sensitive subject for her?

Lucy understands fully. Sometimes, there things that she can't talk about either. Like, that problem…. "Um…." Lucy starting, trying to make conversation. "How old are you, Jack?"

"15." Jack simply remarked, feeling awkward. Lucy nodded, thinking.

"I'm….13." Lucy said to her, looking around.

"I see." Jack simply went, looking around.

Feeling even more awkward, Lucy then notices something that didn't catch her attention earlier on. On the massive cliff-side, towards the end part closest to the sea, stands a large, foreboding black stone tower. It seemed quite large even from a much far-away distance, and appears to tower into the sky, disappearing into the clouds above.

"What on earth is that?!" Lucy remarked, completely surprised by the appearance of the tower, as it wasn't there earlier when she was with Alastor and Jack.

Jack glances to look at the tower, which also has caught the attention of some tourists nearby. "Oh, the Shadow Tower's back." Turning her attention back to Lucy, Jack sees that the Kirlia is surprised and shocked on the appearance of the tower. Jack then rubbed the back of her head, as Alastor re-appeared to them.

"Hey guys, wha- WHOA!" Alastor went to ask but instead seeing the sudden appearance of Shadow Tower. He then turns to see Jack being calm about this. "Do you know something about this?!" the (enragement) Prinplup asked, suspicious of what Jack knows.

Jack nodded. "Indeed I do." She then pointed towards the tower. "'hat, my two friends, is Shadow Tower. An enigma in Fougueux Ville and its history."

"An enigma?" Alastor went, crossing his flippers. "What do you mean?"

Jack looks round the town, then back at the two. "Shadow Tower 'as been, like I said, an enigma in Fougueux Ville. The reason why? It acts like a shadow. Sometimes, you can see it as bright as the day itself, but other times, it completely disappears into 'hin air."

Lucy is taken aback by this, rather shocked. "Completely disappears?! That's scientifically impossible!"

Jack shook her head. "Nah, lass. I speak the truth. Believe me or nah, 'hats the truth." Jack then looked at the tower with a scowl.

"Whatever causes the tower to disappear on occasion, I 'avent's a clue." Jack remarked once more. "But it can disappear at any time of the day in any weather. It can disappear while the sun's out and everyone's effin' jolly or when it's the night and everyone is sleepin' away in their cosy beds! The same can be said for when it re-appears."

Jack then looks to the two Angelo siblings. "But the quarest ting about it is, Shadow Tower leaves no trace behind."

"What?!" Lucy said, surprised by this. "Not even a hole even in the ground?!" Jack nodded, still frowning. Alastor looks quite taken aback by this.

"Wow, that's hard to believe, Jack." He said, still in disbelief. "Has anyone actually been up there?"

Jack nodded once again. "Indeed, Ally. Many of the locals 'ave been up there when it's gone and 'ave said the same ting. Not even a single hole is there." She explained, thoroughly. "But 'hat not the weirdest part of it all."

Now it was Lucy's time to frown. "What do you mean by that?" she asked, rather curious on what Jack said in the last sentence.

"Nobody in the history of Fougueux Ville has been able to enter Shadow Tower and come back." Jack replied, rather wistfully, not noticing the look of dread on the Anglo siblings' faces. "Well, 'hats the legend around it. Truth be told, only a few in Fougueux Ville's 500 year old history 'ave been able to return, though soon die afterwards. 'ow they die? They die whilst rambling about it, about the horrors of the tower, about what it contains. Most of the time, Pokémon die of a heart attack in fright before they could say what' it contains. But, the ones do manage to say, they said an invisible force inside completely rips through the group. 'hats not a metaphor, by the way!"

Seeing that Lucy and Alastor are lost for words, Jack continues to explain. "The legend of Shadow Tower is 'hat it is inhabited by 'orrible monsters, more terrifying 'hen the nightmares that the Legendary Pokémon Darkrai can give to yas. It is said to be cursed by Giratina himself, ruler of the underworld."

Jack shakes his head. "No one knows what happens in Shadow Tower but anyone willing enough to enter the tower is consider suicidal by the locals because of how terrifying it is. Illusions, monsters, anything 'hat can scare you, it's in 'hat tower. 'hats the truth behind it, ya see?"

Lucy nodded, deep in thought. "It sounds like something right out of a horror story!" she remarked, a little scared of the imposing tower. Alastor said nothing in response, paling a little. Then he remembered something.

"You said that the tower is an enigma on the town's history. What do you mean by that?" the Prinplup asked diligently. Jack frowned a little.

"Usually, Shadow Tower sticks around for a couple of days, either 2 or 3 days….." Jack replied, somewhat reluctantly. "But, it is considered an omen when it's here for more 'hen 5 days."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Alastor yelled in angry and confusion at Jack, having no idea what the Luxio is going on about.

Jack sighed, somewhat annoyed. "Its pure bad if the tower is around for more 'hen 5 days. According to a sham of mine, a disaster is bound to happening. From the start of Fougueux Ville's history, disasters are sure to follow if the tower stays for more than 5 days. The Great Forest Fire of Fougueux, the Tsunami disasters, the Fougueux Demon Trials, the Earthquake of '82…..All preceded by 'hat tower staying for more 'hen 5 days."

Jack sighed once again, less annoyed this time. "All the locals pray for when the tower re-appears, it doesn't stay for more 'hen 5 days."

Lucy, looking annoyed, gestured towards where the tower was. "If it's disastrous to live near it, why isn't anyone moving out of this town?!"

"It's extremely rare for it to happen, feek." Jack remarked, very causally. "Besides, yer more likely to win the lottery 'han 'hat tower staying for more 'hen 5 days. There's been only been four instances of 'hat tower staying for a longer time 'han usual. The locals just learn to 'ave to live with it, ya see?"

The two Angelo siblings look at each other and then towards the tower itself.

"Back in the old days, there were tales of a grand treasure somewhere within the tower, from someone who actually got out." Jack concluded the tale of Shadow Tower. "But, since the majority of Pokémon having clem happening to 'hem, no one has been able to retrieve it. These days, none are bothered, too risky they say."

Alastor nodded, thinking. "I like to have an adventure somewhere in this town, but that one place I don't want to go to now."

"Deadly good decision ya 'ave there, Ally." Jack remarked, serious. "'hat's wan place ya don't want to go ever! Unless ya suicidal!"

Lucy simply stared at the tower, with some intent and fear. The foreboding, black tower of Fougueux Ville….

Shadow Tower. Its name and history is dark as a moonless night…. Why does this thing exist? And how come she hasn't heard of it before?

* * *

**IT ALL STARTED WITH SHADOW TOWER.  
**

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

* * *

"Bzt….Come in Sakura! Do you read me? Bzt…" a voice called over a small hand-handled radio. The mysterious figure know as Sakura picked it up.

"What is it, DD?" she asked, looking over on what's she looking at. A sound of a growl could be heard slightly over the small radio.

"Seriously, Sakura?! You know my name is Digby Donavan!" the voice, known as Digby, snapped rather annoyed. Sakura, still covered by shadows, chuckled a little.

"Greh gheh gheh!" Sakura chuckled a little, with Digby sighing over the radio. "Anyway, what do you want?"

"The Boss wants a report on your search so far….Bzt!" Digby explained, with some static over the radio. Sakura looked round on where she was.

"Well, I went to the underground of Fougueux Ville, and the Pokémon that the Boss wants me to find is called Amos Lettigo according to some….dealers down there." Sakura explained back to Digby over the radio thoroughly.

"I see. What type of Pokémon is this….Amos?" Digby questioned, getting to know the information better.

"A male Meowstic, to be in fact. But that lays the problem."

"What do you mean?"

Sakura looked round again, then back to the radio. "There's a lot of male Meowstics in this town, and finding the right one is going to be hard. If I find the wrong one, the Boss will be furious."

"I agree on that." Digby remarked over the radio. "How are you going to find him?"

"From what I learned from the underground, one of Amos' associates has an apprentice." Sakura explained again, a hint of pride in her voice. "That apprentice is a Luxio."

"A Luxio, huh?" Digby went, rather surprised. "You don't see many of them around here. They're usually more down south."

"And this certain Luxio has an Irish accent." Sakura stated. "And there's only one in town that has an Irish accent."

"I see…. I guess you're tracking down that Luxio right now?" Digby questioned once more through the radio.

"Yeah…." Sakura replied, looking on where Jack was right now. "I'm on the roof of the town's arcade, 'Fun-Land'."

"Where the heck is that?! I don't remember an arcade!"

"It's near the beach and the theatre, connected with that American Diner that we sometimes eat at."

"That's next to an arcade?!"

"Yes, yes it is, Digby. But anyway, I'm getting off topic here. I'm currently tailing that Luxio at the moment. The Luxio appears to be talking with some other Pokémon at the moment. Once it's on the move again, I'll report back in to say I'm moving again, so tell the Boss that, okay?"

"Understood. Remember, what we're doing here is for the greater good." Digby stated seriously. "Digby over and out."

Then, the radio went off, no static at all. Sakura simply grins, silently watching from the shadows.

* * *

**Back with our heroes….**

* * *

Having changed the subject of the looming tower, Lucy, Alastor and Jack proceeded to head back into the arcade, to play some more games there. Currently, Lucy and Alastor are playing a game of Whack-a-Drilbur with Jack cheering them on.

Before the game, Lucy and Alastor had made a bet to see who would win. If Lucy lost, she'll have to give up all of her reading material for the rest of the holiday. If Alastor lost, he'll to order and eat a red chili ice cream that is available next door (yeah, that's a thing in Fougueux Ville). Lucy doesn't want to give up her books whilst Alastor hates eating spicy food.

This is why the game that they're currently playing is getting more intense and competitive.

"Go on, ya two!" Jack yelled, rather loudly, as Lucy and Alastor competed against each other, Lucy being Player 1 and Alastor being the second player. As the two racked up points against each other, Alastor smirked as he was slightly in the lead.

"You can't beat me at games, Lucy!" Alastor stated somewhat cocky, slamming a foam mallet onto a small plastic Drilbur. "I'm the king of games!"

"Shut up, enragement penguin." Lucy remarked sternly, concentrating on the game, making Alastor angry.

"Now listen here, Lu-"

" **PLAYER ONE WINS** " the machine of Whack-a-Drilbur (somewhat) screamed out, leaving Alastor extremely flabbergasted while Lucy grinned victorious.

"Looks like I win for once, bro." Lucy said, with some pride in her voice while Alastor is still shocked by this.

"….What...How….?" he mumbled, completely shocked by this turn of events. He then notices Jack stepping forward with a smirk on her face.

"Aye, it certainly bad for ya, Ally!" Jack confirmed, grinning deviously. "Ya know what 'hat means!" A look of pure terror on Alastor's face appears, and he quickly loses the colour in his face.

"Nowaynowaynoway!" he goes, rather quickly as he tries to stop Jack insinuating what he doesn't want to eat. "Iain'teatingthat! There'snowayyou'remakingme!"

"Aww…." Jack goes, grinning whilst faking sympathy, slowly approaching the Prinplup. "The poor, little Prinplup can't handle his spicy food? Aw, what a shame!"

"Now listen here, you da-" Alastor goes to say, opening his mouth when suddenly Lucy appears, shoving a scoop of the red chili ice cream into his mouth using her psychic powers.

During the time that Alastor and Jack were arguing, well more of Jack teasing the poor Prinplup, Lucy had sighed, teleport to the ice cream stand next door, ordered a scoop of the red chili ice cream and teleported back to shove it down Alastor's gob. In response of that, Alastor's face grew bright red as he swallowed the ice cream, the spicy heat increasing becomes apparent.

"HOTHOTHOTHOTHOT!" Alastor goes, panicking and running around as his mouth feels like it's on fire from the cool ice cream, ironically. He runs around in a panicking way, getting confused looks from other vendors of the arcade while Lucy giggled a little while Jack laughed her head off.

"I swear, ya two are making me laugher 'arder and 'arder by the second!" Jack remarked, still laughing a little. Lucy nodded in response, not really saying anything.

Then, suddenly, an alarm goes off on Lucy's phone, which she had been carrying around on her since she left the hotel. Frowning a little, Lucy looks at her phone to see that the alarm is for her medication, which she has to take twice a day, once in the morning, when she arrived and one in the afternoon, which is right now. Lucy then sighs, and takes a bottle of water that Alastor had been carrying around with him, which he placed near the machine, and opens it, getting a pill ready. Just in case that she's away from her parents and she needs her medicine, Lucy has always made the habit of keeping some on her.

When she was about to start taking her medicine, Lucy noticed that Jack was watching intently at the pill that Lucy was about to take. "What's the matter, Jack?" Lucy questioned, curiously.

"It's…." Jack goes, rather perplexed by the tablet. "I swear I've seen 'hat type of medication before….."

Frowning a little, Jack thinks for a moment before asking this: "Yer being treated for something?"

Lucy nodded, slightly uncomfortable to talk about it but is used to it. "I….suffer from hallucinations. Ever since I can remember, I've been hallucinating things that….aren't there, basically."

Jack remained silent for a few seconds. "I see. Has 'hat ever affected ya in anyway?"

Lucy looked away, not saying anything. Jack quickly picked this up as something that Lucy doesn't want to talk about. "Ah….sorry…."

Lucy said nothing, instead placing the pill that she had in her hand into her mouth, then taking a swig of water to swallow the pill. She sighed after the pill was shallowed, looking somewhat sad.

"It's not easy with these hallucinations sometimes…." Lucy said, not looking directly at Jack. "Sometimes, things happen I don't wish to happen…"

Some memories of Lucy's rush through her mind, about what happened to her with these hallucinations. "It's….tough sometimes….I prefer not to talk about it."

Jack nodded, understanding. "Do yer parents know about this….?"

"Yeah…." Lucy replied to what Jack had asked, slightly emotionless. "They know what I suffer from. But….they don't know what I think about it….or what happens."

Jack nodded again, thinking. "If ya do not mind, canna borrow wan of those pills?" Jack questioned, somewhat serious. Lucy glances at her, somewhat confused.

"I'm not supposed to…..But why?"

Jack glances round the arcade, noticing that Alastor has calmed down from the ice-cream and is coming back over to have a go at Lucy. "I swear I've seen 'hat pill around before…I know a feen 'hat might be able to tell me what type of pill yer take."

"But it's just a pill to stop hallucinations….." Lucy said, still somewhat confused. Jack nodded.

"I know 'hat. But I need to know what it's called. I think I might 'ave taken one of those in the past."

Lucy sighs and hands over a green and red pill to Jack. "Here you go…Just don't tell my parents, okay?"

Jack nodded once more, as Alastor finally comes back from running around. As the two Angelo siblings begin to argue, Jack looks down at the pill with a frown. Where did she see this pill before? Maybe that Pokémon might be able to tell her….

But, anyway, Jack stuffs the pill into her fur and then with the Angelo siblings goes to play some more games, unaware that she's being watched from the shadows.

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

* * *

Somewhere, in the deep forest of Fougueux Ville , an area where it seems no life is growing at all, silence is in the air. The barren ground covers the area, with dead trees and dying bushes on the outskirts surrounding it. In the middle, a large dead tree looms.

As a breeze follows through, the area begins to shakes violently, if like an earthquake was occurring. As the area shook, a mysterious figure appears above the tree, completely white but also translucent. It floats above the tree with a callously and deviously grin. As the shaking begins to lessen, the figure begins to disappear, losing its grin.

As the shaking stops and the figure completely disappears into thin air, it manages to say something before it does. What it says travels through the forest like a whisper, a threatening one. It eventually pasts through the forest into the town, when eventually it catches the attention of a certain fifty-one year old Meowstic.

" **I'M STILL HERE…** "

* * *

**To be continued…**.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	5. Beware of them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After learning about Shadow Tower, Lucy ponders on what it could be in the tower, unaware of something lurking within the shadows......

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 4:**

**Beware of Them**

* * *

**32 Hours until the death of Amos….**

* * *

Later, after leaving Jack, and getting her phone number, at the arcade to head back to the hotel for dinner, Lucy, Alastor and their parents are eating at a local restaurant, the American Diner that the two Angelo siblings past earlier on in the day.

Sitting near a window, Lucy looks outside as the family wait for their meal, towards where Shadow Tower. It's currently dark outside as its night time and the tower blends into the dark, moonless sky behind it.

What Jack said about Shadow Tower scares but also pipes the interest of Lucy. A tower that disappears and re-appears randomly…. And when it appears for a certain amount of time, disaster will follow….

Lucy then glances round the diner. The diner's area is very large, with many silver tables decorated in American flags. The silver floors shines brightly from the ceiling lights above as Pokémon waiters' serve the food to over customers. The bar area is silver as well, but decorated with many American things such as flags, t-shirts and many different memorabilia. The chairs to the bar area are high bar stools whilst the table chairs are large, red sofas.

Over in a corner, a singular jukebox stands, playing some upbeat music but at the same time, making the diner rather mysterious in atmosphere.

A Froslass with a eyepatch over her left eye is standing, or floating, at the bar area, polishing a glass with a towel as she watched the somewhat busy diner.

As Lucy looked round even more, she noticed that the bookshop owner Crobat, Intoxiquer, is eating at another table with his employee Kiri. What's interesting to see along with Kiri the Simipour is a Simisear and a Simisage sat amongst them.

From what Lucy could see from Intoxiquer's table, the bookshop Crobat is steadily reading something on a newspaper he's got, whilst the Simisear and Kiri are speaking to each other in Japanese and the Simisage looks bored out of his or hers mind.

The Simisear appears to have cut marks and over his hands, which are covered by plasters. His hair seems quite poofy, along with the Simisage, who has some small burn scaring on his hands.

"Are you listening, Lucy?" a voice called, snapping Lucy back into reality. She glanced at Noah, who looks somewhat annoyed.

"Were you day-dreaming again, Lucy?" Noah asked with an annoyed tone in his voice. Lucy glanced to see Alastor chuckling a little while Abby remained rather calm, sipping from a wine glass.

"Um…..sorry Dad…." Lucy replied, rather embarrassed by day-dreaming. "I….was just thinking about something, that's all….."

Seeing her father calm down, Lucy felt a bit more relaxed. "What were you thinking about? Was it another mystery in your books?" Noah questioned, curious.

Lucy shook her head. "No, it's nothing to do with my books." Lucy stated, rather wistfully, even stopping Alastor laughing a little due to how surprised he was. Usually, when Lucy is thinking about something, it's usually about a mystery in a novel. But for something else to make Lucy think differently, that's certainly a surprise.

"There's….this place….in Fougueux Ville…." Lucy starts to explain, somewhat unsure on how her parents would react. Alastor instantly knew what Lucy was talking about and tuned in his attention.

"It's called Shadow Tower….." Lucy went, continuing to explain. "It's….said appear occasionally and disappear without warning and without a trace. No one's been able to explore it…."

Lucy smiled a little, to herself. "It….just interesting to me that such a thing exists. It's like a complete mystery…." Alastor grinned in anticipation. What Lucy said about it is also applying to him as well.

The thing is, Alastor wants to be an explorer when he's older. There's many different places that he wants to explore one day and places that haven't been explored yet. Despite on how terrifying it is according to Jack, Alastor's curiosity of the tower only increases by how much he thinks about it.

He gets his love of exploring from his father, actually. Noah works as a museum curator in Espectro City, and many different artefacts come in and out that museum, a lot of them mystic. Alastor is always fascinated by the artefacts, and along with adventure manga, would love to go on an adventure one day.

Noah nodded, smiling a little. "Hm, I do think that's come up a few times at the museum. 'The Shadow Tower of Fougueux Ville'…..It does sound interesting." He remarked, somewhat excited by the thought of the tower.

"I heard from my colleagues that there's a rumour about that tower. Apparently, different sorts of art facts in there, just waiting to be discovered. Shame that nobody's been able to scale within…."

Alastor crosses his flippers and thinks. "I wonder why it disappears and re-appears….Maybe its magic?"

"It isn't magic, Alastor. There's no such thing." Abby went, bluntly, swilling the wineglass a bit. "There's a perfectly good scientific explanation to all enigmas in this world. Magic isn't one of them."

Whilst Noah deals with artefacts and the legends around them, Abby on the other hand is a forensic scientist for Espectro City's police force. From DNA testing to footprint analyse and every single scientific tactic is takes to catch a criminal, Abby has been helping out with those tactics.

Anything that currently can't be explained can and will one day be explained by science, according to Abby. Lucy and Alastor just learned to deal with it.

Alastor frowned a little, unsure. "Mom, how would it disappear and re-appear without leaving anything behind?"

Abby put down her wine glass and sighed, rather annoyed. "I've read on some scientific reports in the past that this so called 'Shadow Tower' is merely an illusion, a trick on the eye. The weather conditions around Fougueux Ville are known to create illusions around the area. Plus the fact there's a local tribe of Zoroarks and Zouras living nearby can suggest that they create the tower with their illusions, as some are known to play tricks on the locals. This tower could be the end product of one large trick. The reason why not many Pokémon have been unable to explore and not returning it is due to them being tricked by the tower and falling off the cliffs."

Noah nodded, thinking logical. "Well, that is a good argument."

"HOLD IT!" Lucy went, rather loudly, catching her family off in surprise. "I was told that it when it stays for more than 5 days, something bad will happen!"

Alastor nodded, somewhat scared. "There's been disasters following it if it stays for too long!"

Noah crossed his flippers, nodding. "Well, there's no argument in that. I mean, I heard about this omen from my co-workers, Abby. I don't think a bunch of Zoroarks are responsible for a massive fire, tsunami and an earthquake every time."

"Hmph!" Abby huffed, still somewhat annoyed. "I hate to admit this but those disasters are just a pure coincidence."

This time, Noah chuckled a little. "And here I thought you don't believe in coincidences!"

As Abby and Noah laugh a bit and Alastor rolled his eyes, Lucy sighed and looked outside. It's rather dark out there, and possibly cool. She then turned to Noah.

"Dad, it's a bit humid in here….Is it okay I can go outside for some fresh air?" she asked, sweating a little. Noah nodded, somewhat sincerely.

"Yeah, dear. Go ahead."

Lucy gets off her seat and proceeded to head outside, but just before she was about to leave, this conversation happened.

"Dad, can I go outside?"

"No Alastor, you can't."

"Aww, why?"

"Because, unlike Lucy, you tend to be…..a bit irresponsible."

"HEY!"

Lucy chuckled a little as she went outside after hearing that.

* * *

**IT'S FILLED WITH THEM. THE EMPTIED ONES.**

* * *

**Five minutes later….**

* * *

Lucy sighed, breathing in and out, as she leant against a wall near the diner whilst reading a book entitled ' **I'm still here** ', as mist from her warm breath appears in the light as it touches the cold air. Reading the book, she sighed once more, and closed it, looking into the moonless sky above.

"It appears that even here, away from her and her friends, the despair that she causes still influences me…." Lucy remarked to herself, feeling down. She pulls out her phone again and looks at the text message that she received earlier.

She stared at the message intently, as she knew it was mocking her. Closing her phone off, Lucy looks up once more to the dark sky.

A feeling of sadness fills up Lucy's chest quite quickly, as like a Talonflame flying through the air at high speeds. Quick breaths in and out, Lucy tries not to sob with tears, trying to remain strong.

However, tears began to run down Lucy's face, despite the fact she tried to keep it in. Sobbing a little, more tears ran down Lucy's face.

"Hey, Lucy, Mom wa-" Alastor suddenly appears right next to Lucy, to inform her something that Abby wants Lucy to know, when he sees his sister crying. Startled, Alastor steps back a bit as Lucy stops crying by rubbing away the tears.

"Wh-what's the matter, Lucy?" Alastor asked, completely bewildered by Lucy crying. The Kirlia scowled, looking away angrily.

"It's….nothing, Alastor." She replied, rather bluntly.

"It's clearly something! You don't usually cry about anything!"

Lucy scowled even harder, rather annoyed by Alastor's talk. "It's just that a character in the book I'm reading has just died, and it's rather sad….."

"You and I both know that's a bunch of Tauros-sh-"

Suddenly, a great noise come from near the jewellery store interrupts the conversation, and the two turn their attention to it.

"Huh?" Alastor went, confused. "What was that?"

Then, another loud noise explodes again near the jewellery shop, though the glass doesn't seem to be shattered from what they can see. Lucy frowns and goes to head indoors. "We should go get Mum and Dad on this. They'll know what to do."

When she got no response from Alastor, Lucy glances and is startled to see that her brother had gone ahead to investigate what caused that sound. Panicking a little, Lucy sprints over to find Alastor standing near the jewellery store, looking confused as he looks up to what appears to be an entrance the smaller theme park.

Alastor looked round, still rather confused on what caused the noise. "Huh…." Alastor murmured to himself. Lucy crossed her arms, annoyed at Alastor even more now for making her waste time on this.

"Come on, there's clearly nothing here…." Lucy remarked, turning back round to head back to the American Diner when something catches her attention.

Lucy looks up to see that a Pokémon is standing on top of a maintenance hut in the small theme park, looking out on the town.

It appeared to be a Garchomp, but this Pokémon was nothing like a usual Garchomp. For one, instead of the blue, red and yellow colour-scheme of the Garchomp race, this one was brilliant but somewhat intimidating white, with the red and yellow parts being a different shade of white, nearly to grey.

The next thing odd about this Garchomp was that it is more monstrous than the normal ones. Many different cuts can be seen across its body and some spikes around its dorsal fin and its legs. It also looks much bigger than a normal Garchomp.

"What the….?" Lucy murmured to herself, looking at the fin on the right. "What's…. a hole doing there?"

What Lucy had notice is true. On the right fin, a small, perfect circular hole directly in the middle of it can be seen.

The last thing to notice about it is that it looks like it's wearing a mask, which appears to be a twisted version of a Garchomp's face. The mask itself, though Lucy cannot see it that well due to the wearer looking away from her, seems to be happy, grinning manically. The iris part of its eyes is red whilst the rest is a sickly pussy-like colour.

Lucy stepped back, in fright of the ghastly white Garchomp, eyes wide open in fear and paling rapidly. "What's the matter?" Alastor asked, rather confused. "It looks like you've seen a ghost!"

His sister points toward where the Garchomp is standing, the maintenance hut.

"D-don't you s-s-see it?" Lucy replied, stuttering in fright of the white Garchomp. "It's….s-standing t-t-there!"

Alastor looks towards the maintenance hut then back to Lucy with a scowl. "I don't see anything." He replied, rather bluntly. "Are you have one of those hallucinations again?"

"THIS IS DIFFERENT!" Lucy yelled loudly and angrily at Alastor. "AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT YOU CAN'T SEE IT?! IT'S PLAIN AS DAY!"

This, unfortunately, was a bad idea for Lucy to yell out. She saw that the ghastly white Garchomp has noticed here, glancing backwards at her. A shiver goes down Lucy's spine as the Garchomp's red irises stare at her emptily, not blinking at all. She steps back again, eyes wide open.

"We need to go." Lucy commanded, extremely serious, while keeping her eyes on the Garchomp, who continues to stare.

"What?" Alastor goes, surprised and confused on what Lucy's saying. It made no sense to him!

"We need to run, now! I feel….the moment I take my eyes off it…..It WILL come for us!"

Alastor has no idea on what Lucy is talking about, what IT is. However, whatever it is, it's scaring Lucy immensely, even more than usual. She's the only one out of both of them who can see what IT is. Lucy is also one not to run away from her problems and will try and solve it by herself. But, if she feels like they need to run, literally, then Alastor knows that they're in some deep crap here.

Alastor nodded, seriously. "Whatever it is….it's scaring you." He stated, with Lucy still looking where the white Garchomp is. "But….If you say to run because of it, I believe you."

Lucy nodded, still looking.

"Okay….On the count of three, we run. Fast as we can back to the diner to get help. Whatever you do, do not stop, at all. Got it?"

"Understood!"

"All right….One, tw-"

In that sudden moment where Lucy begins to back off, the Garchomp suddenly disappears from the roof of the maintenance hut and re-appeared right behind Alastor, if it had teleported.

Not even allowing a gasp in shock to express how she feeling in that moment, in an instant, Lucy saw the Garchomp raise one of its arm find and smacked Alastor with a powerful blow.

With the powerful blow, Alastor flew and crashed into the jewellery shop's window, shattering it into many of pieces. The Prinplup can be seen lying in the mess of the impact unconscious, with many different pieces of jewellery scattered around him.

Turning her head to look at the ghastly Garchomp slowly in fear, Lucy's eyes wide in fear, as the Garchomp grins, who has a yellow strip going down the middle of its face. For some odd reason, the number 4 is directly under it's right eye. A small, black cloud erupts from the Garchomp's mouth as it opens it to show sharp, deadly teeth.

"Garhaaaa..." the Garchomp goes, slowly and hoarsely, sounding somewhat excited. As he spoke, the small black cloud floats around near Lucy. One whiff of the cloud made Lucy want to throw up in disgust, as the smell of it of a rotting corpse.

The Garchomp goes up to Lucy, bending down to look her deep in the eyes, blankly. Lucy stands there in fright, not knowing what the ghastly Garchomp is doing. Still staring blankly, the Garchomp makes a clicking noise and goes to sniff Lucy, creeping her out even more.

Even more disturbing, after finishing smelling Lucy, the Garchomp's tongue slips out and licks Lucy on the face, if tasting her. Shaking in fear, Lucy sees that the Garchomp is grinning.

"...Tasty..."

The Garchomp then stands up and glances towards the unconscious form of Alastor within the jewellery, with a blank stare. The Garchomp then scowls and makes an snarling sound, narrowing his eyes in annoyance. Whatever Lucy has, this Garchomp likes but it doesn't like Alastor. Maybe Alastor hasn't got what clearly this Garchomp has taken in interest with Lucy in.

Lucy steps back, glancing towards the stairs up to the small theme park but also keeping her eyes on the Garchomp. "W-w-w-what are you?" she stuttered, extremely frightened.

The Garchomp's neck snapped back towards Lucy, with an intimidating glare on it's face. It growls, stepping forward. With another click, it cocks it's head, baring teeth as it grins.

"Bone...cruncher..." it goes, still slowly and hoarsely. Green slime appears to be coming out of it's mouth, as the black cloud becomes bigger. Lucy realised that this slime is actually drool.

Quickly figuring out that this Garchomp, which calls itself 'Bonecruncher', wants to eat her! That's why it licked her! Lucy glanced at the stairs once again. She needs to run! Then. Lucy sees that Bonecruncher is preparing himself to pounce on her, ready to eat.

With a frighten squeal, Lucy turns and heads for the stairs, screaming to get help. Bonecruncher grins hungrily, widening eyes in excitement and anticipation. He licks his lips.

" **GRRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!** " With a mighty roar filling the area, Bonecruncher speeds off, chasing after his prey at high speed.

Lucy ran up the stairs to head towards the small theme park, with Bonecruncher quickly pursuing her, teeth showing. Getting to near the fence area, Lucy noticed that Bonecruncher is about to jump onto her. Seeing a nearby flower pot, Lucy grabs it with her Psychic powers and blasts it into Bonecruncher's face, blinding him.

Bonecruncher gnarled in frustration, trying to get the dirt off his face. Sighing a little that she's got time, Lucy begins to run towards the beach, which is accessible with a short cut nearby. As she goes to run down it, Bonecruncher slices the air in frustration, sending what appears to be a blast of energy towards Lucy.

Managing to dodge it, Lucy sees that the energy sliced through the fence into the maintenance hut, leaving massive gash in the fence, hut and ground. Breathing heavily, Lucy proceeds to head down the short cut, just as Bonecruncher recovered from the dirt in his eyes.

"I need…to get…away…" Lucy said to herself. "Need to…find help!"

Running down the shortcut with Bonecruncher in hot pursuit, Lucy finds herself in the small park area near the arcade. Turning to see where the white Garchomp is, Lucy jumps out of the way and runs just as Bonecruncher attempted to pounce and snap at Lucy.

Growling in frustration, Bonecruncher sends another wave of energy towards Lucy. Though again it missed her, the wave of energy did cause Lucy to trip up, making her lose her balance. Collapsing near some flowers in the park area, Lucy turns round on the floor, backing away from the looming Garchomp towering above her.

Bonecrunch didn't say anything, rather he made an deep, half-snarl half moan kind of noise in the style of laughing, with the black cloud around his mouth intensifying.

He grabbed Lucy from off the ground, causing her to squeal in fright. "Heeehhhh..." Bonecruncher moaned happily, the black cloud around him becoming bigger and bigger by the second.

"You...smell...of...them...seers..."

Raising Lucy by one of her arms, Bonecruncher then procced at open his jaw wide and chomped at Lucy's arm. Blood spewed out the moment the teeth pieced Lucy's skin, even though Bonecruncher hasn't let go yet.

"ARGGHH!" Lucy screamed in pain loudly, as more blood continues to be flow out. Bonecruncher lets go of Lucy's arm, leaving six teeth shaped holes in her arm. As more blood comes out, Lucy starts to feel light headed.

"Garaaa...!" Bonecruncher then raised Lucy up into the air and then slammed Lucy hard onto the ground, cracking the pavement below.

"ARGH!" Lucy screams, half in pain and half trying to stay awake. Bonecruncher lets go, leaving Lucy in the impact area as he looks around, if something was out for him.

Seeing that nothing is after him, Bonecruncher looks down and picks up Lucy, drooling green and teeth bloodily.

Bonecruncher grinned. "No seers...no others...of..my kind...Good."

He started blankly at Lucy, which he then seem to widen his eyes and opens his mouth, still groaning. The meal has started.

Bonecruncher then goes to eat Lucy whole, head first. It seems the end for Lucy…..Was this the end? To be a monster's meal?"

Suddenly, a loud, slicing sound fills the air, if a sword was cutting through flesh. Bonecruncher flinches, eyes widen as Lucy looked at him groggily. Bonecruncher then drops Lucy to the floor, in surprise.

Lucy looked up weakly to see Bonecruncher looking at himself. Shockingly, Bonecruncher seems to be disintegrating, if he was paper set on fire.

His fins were burning away as the rest of his body. Staring at his claws, Bonecruncher scowled. "Gaara..".. He went, as his masked face begins to crack away. "...I couldn't…get.…one…last….meal…."

Bonecruncher's body continued to disintegrating, ripping his body away like burning paper until only his cracking mask remained. Then, once it had established that the body had gone, Bonecruncher's twisted Garchomp mask dropped to the ground, shattering into many pieces.

Seeing the mask shatter, Lucy sees blurrily two figures talking with each other, one flying and one standing tall. The second one appears to be holding someone with them. A third figure appears to be approaching where Lucy is lying as two more appeared.

As Lucy faded in and out of unconscious, darkness filling her vision, the third figure stops in front of her, looking down at her. It seemed somewhat familiar.

"Arh!" the figure went, with a familiar Irish accent. "Don't worry there, feek. We'll get ya fixed up in no time…."

With that, Lucy falls into the darkness that surrounding her vision, unknowing what Bonecruncher really was or what is about to come….

* * *

**To be continued….**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter, comment down below on what you think about it. Or not, I'm not really forcing ya. Anyway, I'll see you lot later!


	6. PRESS SPACE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the incident with the mysterious being known as Bonecruncher fades from Lucy's view, we take a moment to look over to Alastor's point of view, and see how he's handling it....

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 5:**

**PRESS SPACE**

* * *

**32 Hours until the death of Amos….**

**Two minutes after Lucy fled….**

* * *

Fading in and out of unconscious, Alastor struggled to wake up. Having being blasted into the jewellery shop by a powerful but unseen force, one couldn't blame him to struggle to awake.

After a while, Alastor woke up, head to the side, vision blurry as blood dripped down from a wound from his head. Pushing himself up from the wreckage of glass, wood and precious gems, Alastor's head became dizzy and blurred even more.

"Argh….!" Alastor murmured to himself, pushing himself up despite the bits of glass and wood that are underneath his flippers, some digging into his skin and causing Alastor to bleed. As Alastor manages to get on his knees, a sudden and terrible pain shot through his ribs, making Alastor wince in pain.

"Gack….something's defiantly broken there….." Alastor remarked in pain, holding his left side whilst blood went down his face from the wound, causing him to close his right eye as blood dripped over his right eye from the wound.

Alastor breathed in and out as he struggled to push himself up, as he held his left side in pain. When he did, Alastor breathed heavily as he glanced back to see the empty window frame and the darken street lighted up with lampposts.

"Geez…..what…ever that was….sure did a number on me…" Alastor stated to himself, trying not to collapse onto the floor. "I….did…have a glass-shattering experience though…..!"

Laughing and coughing at his terrible pun, Alastor proceeded to head through the window somewhat disoriented, he then noticed that his sister has disappeared completely, with shards of what appears to be a plant pot.

Face growing in fear, Alastor looked round in panic though still wincing in pain. "No no no no no no…..!" Alastor went, stumbling a little whilst chattering to himself. "Where's Lucy?! I….need to find her! She's not here….!"

Alastor's remaining open eye widened in fear, and he grits his teeth. "No….!" he started, fear rising in his chest as he continues, in vain, to search for his sister. Due to the amount of blood that he's losing, Alastor feels more dizzy and disoriented and can't get a sense of where he is.

"Lucy….gone….she's….in….trouble….Need to….find her…Why…was I…weak...?" Alastor murmured, slurring his words. A sound of footsteps could be heard, along with a flapping of wings. Then, Intoxiquer, Kiri, the Simisage and Simisear came round the corner, and all of them gasped in surprised in horror as Alastor collapsed onto the cold, gravelly floor.

"Oh merde!" Intoxiquer cried out in surprise, whilst Kiri and the Simisear swore in Japanese, their native language. The Simisage stood there, somewhat shocked with mouth agape.

"Nantekoto!" the Simisage uttered with eyes wide open, backing a bit. He then turned to the Simisear. "So that's where the noise came from, Honō!"

The Simisear, named Honō, rolled his eyes and muttered something in Japanese whilst Kiri crossed her arms in annoyance. "Shinrin, you're being a baka." She stated seriously, going over to Alastor to check on him.

She carefully placed a finger on Alastor's neck to check if he's still breathing. Confidently that he's still alive, Kiri turns round to Intoxiquer.

"He's still alive, Intoxiquer-San. Just stunned and injured." She affirmed with a smile. The Crobat nodded, thinking. Intoxiquer then turned to Shinrin and Honō with a serious look.

"There's signs of 'them' being around here." Intoxiquer started with a frown on his face. "Go find Ignatius and Charlotte, quickly. They're round here at this time of night and there might be some of 'them' about. Go, quickly!"

Shinrin and Honō both nodded and they ran off to find the ones named Ignatius and Charlotte. Intoxiquer turned back round to face Kiri. "Come on, Kiri. Let's take him back to the shop. I think I got something to fix him right up."

As Intoxiquer goes to fly over to the stunned form of Alastor, Kiri stops him.

"Intoxiquer-San? Can I ask you something?" she asked, curiously.

"Yes, Kiri-dear?" he replied, frowning in confusion.

"This Prinplup has a sister, but where is she?" Kiri questioned, rather nervously. Intoxiquer's eyes widened in shock as he quickly looked around for Lucy.

"Oh no….! If he was attacked like this….That means….!"

Unfortunately for Alastor, who was half-listening and half trying not to fall unconscious due to his injuries, becomes very, very tired, darkness filling his vision. The last thing that Alastor sees and hears is the sound of footsteps approaching, along with the appearance of two figures, then followed by screaming of a familiar voice.

"L-lucy…M-um….Why…am I…weak..?" Alastor weakly murmurs as he fades into unconsciousness, remembering something from the past.

* * *

**THEY ARE LOST**

**THEY ARE FILLED WITH DENIAL**

* * *

" _I often question something to myself, whenever I'm doing something. This question often plagues me in my mind, whenever I'm hanging out with my friends, reading manga or playing video games._

_Why am I weak? That is the question that haunts me. It's been in my mind as long as I can remember. I have always been emotionally weak. I do not know why this is the case. I've never held my ground in an argument, rather quickly to agree with others than rather fight my own desires._

_I've never even been in an actual fight myself either. I'm too cowardly to fight defend myself from anyone, not like anyone would pick on me. I guess the fighting classes that I take scares others off or I'm not a good of a target. The face I wear, the happiness, the toughness that I show, it's fake. I don't know what's underneath this face though. What I do know, it's filled with envy and jealousy._

_Why is that? I don't know why entirely. That's something that I'll have to figure out myself why one day. But I do know where it started from and who caused it._

_It's Lucy._

_She's the one who caused my negative feelings. If ONLY….if it weren't for her, I wouldn't FEEL THIS WAY….! WHY IS SHE ALWAYS THE ONE WHO…..WHO….! ARGH!_

…

_I'm sorry. I get frustrated sometimes…..It's….JUST REALLY, REALLY….Sigh…._

_It's better for me to remain calm. That 'thing' of hers…..The condition that makes her hallucinate…..It's a pain sometimes…."_

* * *

**Flashback Start:**

* * *

_A young Piplup rushed into his home excitedly with a piece of paper with a badly drawn picture on it, but to a young child, a masterpiece._

_The hallway which he entered through is coloured a somewhat light purple colour, with a reddish-brown carpet. The stairs are to the right, which the railing upwards is colour a slight cream colour with a photo frame of something that the young Piplup doesn't know of on the opposite side of the stairs. There appears to be a cupboard door under the stairs, though it is closed at the moment. It's coloured cream, to stand out from the purple walls. A second door is opposite the cupboard door, though much larger and is actually open._

_A Gardevoir comes through the door and sees the young Piplup rushing towards her with a happy smile on his beak. He then stops in front of her and jumps up and down._

" _Mommy! Mommy!" the Piplup cried out in excitement. "I drew something for you!"_

_The Gardevoir smiled sincerely and picked up the little Piplup to hold him in her arms, with the little Penguin Pokémon still holding the picture. "What have you draw, Alastor?"_

_As you could probably tell by now, this was Alastor when he was younger, before he became a Prinplup (and way before even the start of puberty.), roughly around 5 years old. He's just come back from Pre-School (Kindergarten for you Unovians), with a drawing for his mother. He drew it whilst in class when the subject was family._

_Young Alastor gave his mother, a younger Abby Angelo, the drawing with excitement and anticipation. Abby took the drawing and looked at it for a few seconds with a somewhat curious look on her face before smiling at the paper._

_The drawing itself shows a badly drawn Piplup, Ralts, Gardevoir and Empoleon in front of an even more badly drawn house. Despite the badly drawn things on the paper, it's actually quite impressive for a 5 year old._

" _Heh…" Abby thinks to herself, feeling proud of the drawing. "Alastor has always had better drawing skills for his age….."_

_As Noah came through the door and closed it, Abby greeted her husband, with young Lucy shyly hiding behind her father. She then noticed a frown on Noah's beak._

" _What's the matter?" she questioned curiously while putting down young Alastor, concerned for what's happening, giving the drawing back. Noah frowned grimly as young Lucy bolted extremely quickly up the stairs, presuming to her and Alastor's room (they don't get separate rooms until they're nine.)._

_Noah sighed, somewhat depressed. "Lucy had another hallucination today." He stated rather bluntly with a hint of sadness, causing Abby to gasp in surprise. "The kids were picking on her again before and after it appeared, according to the teacher."_

_As Abby used some complicated words that Alastor didn't understand, the young Piplup simply cocks his head in confusion, rather innocently. "Daddy? What's a ha-lu-sin-na-tion? What has it have to do with Lucy?"_

_Noah stood there for a second then turned to Abby. "Go see how Lucy is doing, can ya? I couldn't get here to talk at all on the way back here."_

_Abby nodded and proceeded to head upstairs whilst Noah went down to Alastor's level. He sighed, somewhat sad._

" _What a hallucination is, Alastor, is when you see something that isn't actually there." Noah explained simply in terms of the five year old could understand. The young Piplup still looked confused._

" _Like an imaginary friend?" Alastor questioned innocently. Noah chuckled a little, seeing the five-year old's logic._

" _Well, I guess so, but you pretend, don't you? You don't actually see, right?" Alastor nodded to Noah's (rhetorically) questions. The adult Empoleon stayed quiet for a few seconds before starting again._

" _With Lucy, she suffers from something called a 'condition', Alastor. Something in her brain that works differently from you and I. Your sister's condition causes her to see things. Things that can take any shape and form. But the thing is, the things she sees aren't real. We don't see them at all because they're not real."_

" _Is this con-dish-tion scaring her?" Alastor asked, somewhat scared. "She wakes me up quite a lot at night screaming…."_

_Noah nodded, putting a flipper onto the young Piplup's head. "Yes. She sees terrifying things. Some days it's good. We can keep it at bay with special medicine."_

_The Empoleon sighed, rather sad. "But, like today, it got bad."_

" _Is….that why you and Mommy pay more attention to Lucy than me…..?" Alastor quizzed, rather reluctant to ask. Noah nodded, rather glum._

" _Yes, and I am sorry about that Alastor. I'm truly am." Noah went, going to hug his son. "There's something not right in your sister's mind, but it's not her fault nor yours." Noah then breaks out of the hug and stands up._

" _Just….please…be strong….for your sister's sake. She's…just frightened…"_

_The young Piplup just stood there, reeling in what his father had said as the fatherly Empoleon headed upstairs. Alastor then looked at his drawing, and sniffed. Trying not to cry, he went off to go play with some toys…._

* * *

**Flashback End**

* * *

" _And there you have. My somewhat-tragic-well-I-wouldn't-exactly-call-it-tragic-past. These weak emotions come from Lucy starting from that memory._

_Everything that I tried to achieve, to make my parents pay attention to me….It's always been overshadowed by Lucy's condition._

_When I won first place in a drawing competition, my parents paid more attention to Lucy because some idiotic punk stole her medicine. When it was sports day at school, neither of my parents turned up because Lucy had another 'episode'. When I started going to the library to read the latest issues of my favourite manga, I had come outside to find that my parents had left because Lucy had ran out of medicine whilst at home, causing them to leave me behind by accident despite promising to stay._

_This is why I took up fighting classes. I…am very frustrated at Lucy. Since I can remember, my parents have always paid attention to her, picking her up when she's down, doting on her, taking of her._

_And where has that left me? A stupid Prinplup that demands attention! But I can't say anything about that, can I?! The disabled ones, the mentally ill ones are always THE ONES WHO ARE PITYED! So, what about the ones left behind?! The ones that NEVER get paid attention?! The ones that get let down by their parents, no praise at all!_

_Sigh…._

_It's rather selfish of me to think that way, isn't it? It's not Lucy's fault after all. It's not her fault she has the condition. But….it's rather frustrating isn't it? When you work hard for something, or achieve something only to not be paid attention at all, no praise or recognition… That is what my life is like. It isn't that hard to get some praise or anything? It's not selfish, as far as I'm aware of…._

_When I couldn't get any attention from my parents for, I try to be the best brother I could to Lucy, to cheer her up from her bullying. I'm very aware of it…_

_I try to do 'epic' things in front of her, to get her to laugh. I know it's stupid but at least she smiles. In that way, it's some kind of recognition…_

_But, in the end, I feel lonely. I just want someone to recognize me as not as the Prinplup who acts funny, reads and does stupid things. I want to be known as Alastor Angelo, some Pokémon that can be admired, even in the littlest of ways…_

_But, even so, that's just my envy of Lucy. She's the one that gets the attention by everyone and leaves me behind. Just me….in the dust…_

_I don't even know if I love my sister or not…..All I do know, I do it for her…._

_Do I love her? I….don't…know anymore… I…just have…this empty feeling…welling up inside…_

_It's hard, ya know? To keep this feeling inside…. When it could be solved…so easily…._

_Heh...in the end, I'm just selfish, aren't I?"_

* * *

**THEY ARE FILLED WITH ANGER**

* * *

"Argh!" Alastor went, bolting up in surprise all of a sudden, waking up. He blinked for a couple of moments before realising where he was, in a hospital bed.

The sheets of the bed are coloured blue. Just the typical hospital blue, with a white pillow at the back, where Alastor's head once laid. To the side of the bed lies a small table with a glass of water and a small pile of biscuits on the plate. To the side of that is a white curtain, which has been drawn to make Alastor have more privacy, or the patient next to him, I think?

Anyway, a similar looking curtain has been drawn on the other side, leaving Alastor full view on what's right in front of him. The bed facing directly opposite has a similar looking layout to what Alastor is lying on, apart from no patient in it. Alastor can see that the wall behind that bed is a yellow-creamy colour and assumes it's the same behind him.

Frowning, Alastor to move when his head started hurting a little. He grabs his head when he noticed that he didn't feel any injures at all on his head. Feeling his head, Alastor finds that not even a bandage is on his head nor wounds. It's like the wounds after he woke up in the jewellery store have mysteriously disappeared!

"What the…?" Alastor goes, shocked by this. He remembers being hurt around the rib area and feels around that. Like his head, his ribcage feels like there's no wounds there, nor any broken bones. Then Alastor remembered the glass digging into his flippers and goes to check there.

Like his head and ribs, not any signs of injures are there. There is one band-aid however, but Alastor had that on before he came to Fougueux Ville.

"What in Arceus's name is going on…?" Alastor goes, extremely confused.

"Ha ha!" cheered a voice, clearly feminine but quite young. "Another patient, in need of entertainment!"

Suddenly, an Aipom wearing clown make-up appeared, wearing a small pink and purple costume with white pom-poms, jumping onto the bed. Alastor could see a small curl in the Aipom's hair on where the little purple spike is. Then, a Lucario appeared wearing the exact same thing as the Aipom is, apart from his make-up covering his face with white powder and pink tears. The Lucario's eyes seem shut for some reason.

"Ha ha!" the Aipom went, spinning around on the spot whilst juggling some balls on her tail. "Please to make your day, young Prinplup!"

The Aipom grinned happily, pulling out some cards. "The name is Simone Keyes, at your service!" Simone announced quite loudly, showing the cards to Alastor. "Pick a card, any card!"

Alastor shook his head, having no idea what's going on. "No, thank you. Err….where am I?" Alastor questioned, pushing the cards away.

Before Simone could respond, the Lucario's ears seem to perk up and he begins to display some weird hand signs to Alastor. The Prinplup is taken aback by this.

"Ah, that's my partner in crime, Vincent Judy!" Simone remarked, rather loudly, as footsteps could be heard approaching, as Vincent moved out of the way as Simone did some hand signs back.

"Vincent is deaf, you see? He talks mostly through sign language apart from when he's stressed!" Simone explained, diligently. "He said 'You're at the hospital'! He's a great lip reader!"

"That's great and all…." Another voice came, which then is revealed to be a stern Noah and an unimpressed Abby with her arms crossed. Vincent put his ears down, confused.

"But what are you doing on my bed?" Noah questioned, seriously.

Simone spun round with a cheek grin on his face. "I simply saw your son awake with my partner in crime Vincent and we thought, well, it was Vincent that noticed, we should entertain your son!" Simone walked on Alastor's bed to Abby and showed her the cards.

"Pick a card, any card!"

"No." Abby went, bluntly, hands tightening. Simone is taken aback by this. "Wow, tough crowd. I bet you wouldn't even want to hear a joke!" Simone remarked, sweating a bit nervous. "I bet you don't have any 'patients' for me, huh?!"

Whilst Abby glared at Simone even more unimpressed with Vincent looking still confused, Noah chuckled at Simon's little joke. "Hehe…..not bad, little Aipom…."

Simone bowed and jumped off Alastor's bed onto the floor, then went behind Vincent and climbed his costume until she is hanging off the Lucario's head. "Well! My work here is done, then! At least you got a sense of humour, Empoleon! Keep punning away! Especially you, young Prinplup!"

"It's Alastor…." Alastor remarked, still unsure on what's happening. Simone grinned in response of that.

"Please to meet ya, Alastor!" Simone then doing some sign language to Vincent, who nodded. The Lucario smiled sincerely and then began to juggle some balls, passing back and forth between him and Simone as the two walked out, leaving Alastor, Noah and Abby very confused.

"What the heck was that all about?" Abby questioned, still rather annoyed by the Aipom's attitude. Noah shrugged and paid more attention to Alastor.

"How are you feeling, Alastor?" he questioned, concerned for his son. Alastor looked wide-eyed, still not sure what was going on with his missing injures.

"To be honest, I have no clue what's going on!" Alastor exclaimed, rather weirded out by his missing injures and what had just occurred. "Last thing I remember is falling down onto the ground, that weird Crobat and his Simipour shop assistant talking about something and having multiple injures on my head, sides and hands!"

He then pointed towards those said areas, his head, chest and flippers. "But the injuries are gone! How long was I out?! Where's Lucy?!"

"About twelve hours, methinks…." Noah commented, rather wistfully. "Lucy woke up before you and she's currently at the hotel room."

Alastor sighed a little with relief. "The doctor did say you would misremember some details from what happen to you…." Abby goes, going to hug her child. Alastor frowned as his mother hugged him.

"What do you mean, mum?"

"You didn't get those injures, dear…." Abby replied to her son sincerely. "You and Lucy were knocked unconscious by a gas explosion near the restaurant!"

Alastor's eyes widen, as this thought runs through his mind: " _WHAT?!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was for me. If you liked this chapter, comment down below on what you think. It helps me out on what I need to improve on. Flying blind here, ya know? See ya.


	7. In and out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As we switch back to Lucy, startling revelations are revealed about the incident with the ghastly white Garchomp, as she and Alastor attempt to find the truth behind it....

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 6:**

**In and out**

* * *

**20 hours until the death of Amos…**

* * *

Lucy sat nervously in the hotel room, extremely nervous. It's been a few hours since she's awoke from her small coma. Her parents took her to the hotel room after checking her out of the hospital and left her there to go check on Alastor, locking the room shut to prevent anyone getting in.

To be honest, she's really freaking out right now, not even picking up on her books to distract her from what's happening. Do you know why? It's because of things that have happened that no one has no clue of it happening.

First of all, the incident where she and Alastor got attacked by the monstrous white Garchomp known as Bonecruncher has been written as off as a gas explosion, apparently. Everyone that Lucy's met today has all said that.

" _That's a bunch of Tauros-crap…._ " Lucy thought to herself, rather nervously. " _Why does everyone think it was a gas explosion?!_ "

Then Lucy looked at her arm, completely clear of injuries or any bite marks. This is what Lucy is freaking out about. She remembers the pain, the agony of the bite ripping through her arm. And somehow…it's all gone! Not even a scar is left!

"How the absolute fu-"Lucy went to say, before hearing the door lock being turned and stopped that sentence.

Lucy watched as her parents and Alastor enter the room, with the young Prinplup looking somewhat agitated. Abby was the first to speak.

"Alastor is now wide awake, Lucy!" she stated, with a cheerful smile on her face, reassuring Lucy but at the same time, filling her up with a little bit of suspicion. "Isn't that great?"

Lucy glanced at Alastor at her brother for a brief second, in which she saw him still looking agitated. Lucy then looked back at her mother and nodded, with a slight smile.

"Yeah…." Lucy went to start. "It's….great!"

Lucy then noticed that her father was staring at her for a few seconds before looking somewhere else. She knows that Noah could tell that she was acting nervously. It's true though. Her injuries and the fact that her parent thinks the attack by Bonecruncher on her and Alastor was actually a gas explosion is certainly causing her to freak out.

But why did her parent's think it's a gas explosion? Did she really hallucinate that? But if that's true, what about the injuries she received from Bonecruncher? She couldn't have hallucinated pain, can see?

Shaking this feeling off, Lucy then turns her attention to her brother.

"How….are you?" Lucy asked to Alastor, somewhat concerned for the Prinplup's wellbeing. Alastor rubbed the back of his head, with uncertainty on his face.

"I'm good, I guess?" Alastor remarked, still rubbing the back the back of his head. Lucy narrows her eyes slightly. When Alastor keeps rubbing the back of his head, that's usually when something is bothering him. What could be bothering him? Perhaps it has something to do with last night? Maybe Lucy will ask him about it when she gets the chance.

Before she could say anything else, Noah's phone goes off, causing the fatherly Empoleon to pick it up.

"Hello….?" Noah goes, with an inquisitive tone in his voice.

For a couple of seconds, Noah remained silently with a concerned expression, occasionally speaking "Ahuh….", "Yeah", and "No". After a few more seconds, Noah rubbed the front of his head slightly, surprised.

"No, that shouldn't be a problem….. I'll come round as soon as I can to discuss about the project. I'll send some pictures over email back to the Espectro Museum soon." Noah commented through the phone.

Lucy knew slightly what Noah was talking about through the phone. Before coming on holiday to Fougueux Ville, Lucy had heard mentions of a project that her father was working on at Especto City's museum. It was a project of hosting some extremely valuable treasures that originated from Fougueux Ville itself. Part of the project was for Noah to come down here to Fougueux Ville to talk about which treasures to transport over to the museum in Espectro to host. Noah thought, since the talk was around the summer holidays, he decided to take his family along with him with him.

Lucy had heard about these artefacts from talks in magazines and other Pokémon. Apparently, the treasures of Fougueux Ville are related to the town's past. Lucy wasn't sure HOW the treasure are related to Fougueux Ville's past (she's only heard rumours and talks after all) but from what she's heard, it has to do with Fougueux Ville's residents and founders, which are supposed to be Ghost types.

Maybe the treasures have to do with it spiritually? Lucy doesn't really know.

The young Kirlia then noticed that her father had finished his call and is looking at her mother. "That was Fougueux Museum's curator. As you could tell….he wants me to come down to the Museum. Is that alright?" he explained and asked to Abby. "I know you wanted to go to the beach today but I guess the trip would be delayed until later."

Abby nodded, smiling. "Nah, its fine!" she said, with a cheerful smile. "The main reason you came down here in the first place was for the project! Go ahead, I'll meet you later on with the children. I heard that there's a market place in the town, which I want to check out!"

Noah nodded as well and seeing that his kids are doing well despite on what happened the previous night from the (not or actual) gas explosion, he departed from their hotel room.

Abby turned round and looked at Lucy and Alastor with a very concerned look on her face. "I know that your father isn't the best when it comes to….worrying after others." Abby went, rather serious to the young siblings.

"But, what I can say that he was extremely worried about you two when you were knocked out. He was pacing back and forth at the hospital and even almost threaten one of the hospital staff because he was EXTREMELY worried, for goodness sake!"

Surprised, Lucy looked over to her brother, which the young Prinplup had his mouth open in shock. Guess even that Alastor was shocked on how Noah (apparently) acted.

"To say….though he hasn't expressed it that much yet, your father is relived that you came away with only being knocked out." Abby said, smiling now, pointing out a finger for some reason. "But, for the next few days, can you keep out of trouble? I know that you didn't mean to get into trouble in the first place….Hell, I couldn't even have predicted that happening!"

Abby sighed, knowing that she's going off track. "Just….don't get into something that is extremely bad, 'kay? What happened to you two really made me and your father worry a lot over the previous night. We…care about you two, 'kay?"

Lucy and Alastor nodded. Seeing that her children agree, Abby smiled sincerely. "Well! Since that's out of the way, I'm going to head to the town's market by myself. I can presume that you two will behave yourself and meet, correct?"

"OF COURSE!" Alastor goes, proudly, flippers pointed out.

Abby once smiled. "Good." She went, happily. "You can go out to town if you want now. Just make sure not to get into any trouble."

Lucy smiled (fakely) and nodded, beginning to head out of the room into the hallway, dragging a confused Alastor with her.

"Lucy, what the heck are you doing?!"

Once into the hallway, which the walls are coloured a light blueish colour with mahogany door frames to show where the rooms are, Lucy turns to Alastor, with a confused look on her face as well.

"You're probably wondering what's going on, with me dragging you out here…." Lucy started seriously, with Alastor nodding whilst frowning.

"Yeah. This ain't like you, Luce." Alastor also began, rather curious of what causing Lucy to act like this. "You don't drag me anyway."

"Just LISTEN, okay?!" Lucy snapped, rather annoyed, causing Alastor to jump in surprise and raised his flippers up to defend himself. "Okay, I'm listening!"

Lucy pinched the area between her eyes. "Last night….do you remember anything?"

"Oh." Alastor went, simply as he dropped his flippers down, expression also simple as well. "You mean that 'gas explosion'? Yeah, I remember some stuff but what I can say, THAT was no gas explosion."

Lucy's eyes widened, nervously smiling a little. "Y-you believe it w-wasn't a gas explosion e-either….?" She stuttered, completely in disbelief on what's happening but it was making her happy somehow.

Alastor nodded, not sure where Lucy is going with this. Lucy then laughed a little, eyes watering. "I'm….glad…." she went, happy. "….Ever since I woke up, everyone was telling me that what happened last night was a gas explosion….I….thought I was going mad….!"

Alastor is taken aback by this. He's been feeling the same feeling since he woke up as well, like he's going insane in the membrane. He gains an inquisitive look for a moment then looked at Lucy.

"Can you explain EXACTLY what happened?" he asked, seriously, crossing his flippers with a frown on his beak. "The details are very….fuzzy for me."

So, for the next 5 minutes, Lucy explained in detail on what happened, from the description of the deathly white Garchomp known as Bonecruncher, what happened just before and after Alastor had got knocked out, the chase afterwards and how Lucy herself got knocked out, though the details for that part was fuzzy for her as well.

In that time of explanation, Alastor listening closely, taking in all details in. He remained silently throughout the explanation, letting his sister explain without interruption.

After she finished explaining, Alastor was still silent for a few moments before nodding. "Hmm…. It does sound right. Certainly fits with what I remember, Luce." He remarked, closing one of his eyes and cocking his head slightly to the right whilst frowning. "Though there are a couple of questions that I have…."

Opening the closed eye, Alastor raised one of his flippers. "The first question is, why couldn't I have seen this 'Bonecruncher' but you could?"

Lucy thought for a moment, then realised that is a good question. "Yeah, you're right." Lucy replied, agreeing with a frown, one of her hands on her chin to think. "At first, I would have put it down to my hallucinations but last time I checked, they only mental images. It's impossible for Bonecruncher to attack you if he was a hallucination!"

"In the words of that bookshop Crobat…." Alastor started, in a somewhat joking manner. "'No ship, Sherlock!'" Lucy laughed at that joke. After that, the Prinplup regained his serious expression.

"My second question is, why does everyone think that a gas explosion happened?" Alastor pointed out, being a fair point.

Lucy nodded. "That's what I've been wondering all day!" she exclaimed, rather exasperated. She then went to think, about what happened the previous night.

"You know…now that I've explained it all, I think I remember something else…." She went, not sure where this is going. "As I was fading into being knocked out, I swear I heard Jack's voice saying it would be alright….."

Alastor is taken aback by this. "You mean the Luxio with an Irish accent?"

"Yeah." Lucy said back, confirming this. Alastor nodded, thinking also about this.

"Now that you said that, I woke up and collapsed somewhere else, but before I fell unconscious, I heard that Crobat bookshop keeper and his assistant talking to each other." Alastor added into the mystery, curiously. "I don't remember much….But I think that Simipour….Kiri I think? I think she said ' **There are signs of 'them' being around here.** '"

"Who are 'them'?" Lucy asked, muddled as she crossed her arms. Alastor shrugged, having no idea what that means.

"As the author stated above, I haven't a clue who 'them' are." Alastor commented, in a joking manner, breaking the fourth wall as well. "Maybe Jack knows something about it?"

"Why would she know about it?" Lucy questioned, seriously. Alastor shrugged in response.

"Dunno. It's just the way that you had said, when you were fading into unconsciousness you heard Jack's voice." Alastor replied, thinking about it. "It just made me think if that she appeared at that moment, maybe she had to do with something with Bonecruncher…..I think….?"

Lucy was about to argue about that when she realised that Alastor made a fair point. "Hmm….you're right about that. So, what do we do?"

Alastor grinned confidently. "We must see her, OF COURSE!"

And with that, both Lucy and Alastor went off to Fougueux Ville, unbeknownst to them that Abby was listening into conversation through psychical powers. After they left, she scowls and pulls out a phone to text.

' _I think the kids are getting closer to the truth. The truth about Lucy's condition. We might not be able to hide it any longer_ '.

With that, Abby sends the message and then shuts off her phone, feeling somewhat nervous on what's to come.

* * *

**THEY ARE FILLED WITH SADNESS**

**THEY ARE FILLED WITH THE ACT OF BARGAINING**

**THEY CANNOT ACCEPT WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM AS THEY ARE LOST.**

* * *

**One hour later…**

* * *

"Who knew trying to find a Luxio with an Irish accent could be SO hard?!" Alastor remarked, rather annoyed as he and his sister leaned against a wall back in the street directly south of the train station in Fougueux Ville, where the incident with Bonecruncher happened.

"I mean, how anyone in this damn town doesn't know a Luxio who speaks with an Irish accent?! It's not that HARD!"

As Alastor continued his little rant of his, Lucy glanced over to the jewellery store, where yellow caution tape is wrapped round it, whilst several Bisharps carrying black boxes to store away the precious jewels whilst a professional-looking Sableye wearing black sunglasses directs them and talking to a Gurrdurr about something. All in the meantime, different sorts of Pokémon past on their daily routines or viewing the town as a tourist.

It seems like to everyone else that an actual gas explosion did happen on this street and is currently being treated as normal. Heck, when Lucy glanced into a newsagents earlier while looking for Jack, the local newspapers have written it off as a gas explosion.

It's odd but realistic. Looking at the scene now, Lucy would have also thought it was a gas explosion as well. If it weren't for….

Lucy shivers and holds herself a little, remember what happened with Bonecruncher. How he (she thinks?) viciously chased her down and beat her down as violently as he could. And the biting…. Lucy looks at the arm that got bit. She still feels the pain that she felt….terrible…horrible…pain.

Alastor noticed Lucy shaking in fear, eyes widening. "Oh man….!" He went, seeing Lucy shake a little though calming down quickly.

Sighing with relief, Alastor looked somewhat worried at Lucy, who's attention is somewhere else. She must have been traumatised by the incident with whatever Bonecruncher was. A ghastly white giant Garachomp….who would have thought?

Maybe Alastor needs to look out for Lucy in the near future….Bonecruncher may not be the only one of it's kind.

Paying attention to things that need more priority, Alastor thinks on where Jack could be. He thinks for a moment when he remembers that he and Lucy first encountered her in Intoxiquer's bookshop.

"Hey, Luce." Alastor started, causing Lucy to look over in surprise. "I got an idea. Let's check that Crobat's bookshop."

"Huh? Why?" Lucy questioned as she blinked.

Alastor glanced over to where the bookshop should be. "I was thinking, since we first met Jack there yesterday, there might be a chance she'll be there….It's a feeling I got…."

Lucy shrugged. "You may be right. Or she might not be there as well." She stated, casually. Alastor looked at her confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it can go two ways. The first way is that we go to the bookshop and she's there. The second way is that we go to the bookshop and find out she's not there, only for a convenient plot point to appear in order for the author to extend the story further!"

Alastor looked surprised. "Wait, what?!"

"Nothing. Let's just get over there already!"

Already confused on what Lucy had just said, Alastor then found himself being dragged along by his sister to Intoxiquer's bookshop without any protest.

When they got there, they found that the bookshop is open as usual, but instead of Kiri the Simipour manning the shop front, a Simisage is there instead, singing softly to himself in a foreign language as he stocked the shelves, once in a while wincing in pain due to the burn scars on his hands. The books sometimes must dig in the scars, so it might be painful for the Simisage. No sign of Jack though. How stereotypical!

As Lucy was about to ask the Simisage about Jack, Alastor stopped here. " _Hey, Luce!_ " He whispered to his Kirlia sister, pulling her over to hid behind one of the shelves.

" _What are you doing?!_ " Lucy snapped at Alastor, quietly as well. Alastor peeked his head over the shelf, seeing the Simisage hasn't noticed them. He then ducked again.

" _That Simisage….I remember seeing him barely after that attack…_ " he whispered seriously. Lucy's eyes widened as her brother Prinplup continues to talk. " _I think he might know something about what happened last night, or who 'them' are….! Heck, even if he denies it, he might know where Jack is…._ "

Lucy nodded, peeking over the side of the shelf to look at the Simisage, who's finished stacking the shelves with books and is paying attention to a magazine, whilst still singing softly.

"Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo…." The Simisage sang softly. Lucy then decided to talk to him, causally going up to him as both brother and sister came out of their hiding spots, with Alastor acting like a browsing tourist.

"Um, hello?" Lucy goes, getting the Simisage's attention. With a friendly smile, the Simisage stopped singing and closed the magazine.

"Ah, as you English folk say….'Hello!'" the Simisage started, with a thick Japanese accent. "Mai….na.. is…Shinrin…your….word for…forest! Hai!"

What Lucy could tell, Shinrin has a good English speaking voice, though judging from how he can talk, it wasn't as strong as Kiri's. It appears that Shinrin doesn't speak English that well.

"Hi! Your English is good!" Lucy complimented, with Alastor watching from the background. It appears that Shinrin understood what Lucy had said, as a wide grin appeared on his face.

"Arigatō!" Shinrin exclaimed cheerfully. "Not…as…good as mai neesan, Kiri!"

Though Lucy didn't know the phrase of what Shinrin expressed, Alastor knew from listening. He often watch anime with English subtitles along with official dubs, but he knew from what Shinrin had just said is that Kiri is his sister.

Alastor thought for a moment. Does this mean that the Simisear that he saw with Kiri and Shinrin the previous night their brother as well?

"Do you know anyone called Jack? Do you know where she is?" Lucy asked, trying to be as simple as possible for Shinrin to understand. Shinrin's face lit up at the mention of Jack.

"Jack-Chan?" he went, somewhat happily. "She….with neesan….Intoxiquer-sama….at kyōkai…."

Seeing a look of confusion from Lucy, Shinrin then realised that she didn't understand what the last word that he just said meant.

"As…you English…would say…." Shinrin started, trying to think of the word in English. "Kore wa donna fū ni hatsuon shimasu ka…..? Ah!"

Shinrin then grinned happily. "Church. She at church!" he exclaimed happily. Lucy then smiled, glad to know where Jack is at the moment.

"Thank you!" Lucy went, beginning to leave as Alastor causally walked by. Shinrin beamed with delight, glad that he was able to help someone.

"It okay!" Shinrin said with a happy tone. "One more thing!"

Lucy stopped, with Alastor just ahead out of view but still being able to listen. "What is it?" Lucy asked, curiously on what Shinrin had to say.

Shinrin's happy expression dropped to a serious one. He looked at Lucy seriously, who began to feel nervously.

"Beware of Corrupted." Shinrin stated seriously. Lucy, confused, nodded and walked out of the bookshop, with an equally confused Alastor as well.

All in the meantime, Lucy failed to notice that a Weavile was watching them from across the road. But this wasn't no ordinary Weavile, no reader indeed!

This Weavile was like what Bonecruncher the ghastly Garchomp was like. The Weavile was bigger than the average Weavile and the colour scheme of it was pure white, though the parts where there was different colours on a normal Weavile was different shades of white, some near to white, though some of the feathers on its head were a dark blue.

A small, circular hole lies in the middle of its chest, completely see-through. Its body is a more monstrous version of a Weavile, with sharper and deadlier claws and some spikes on its arms come out to act like some kind of blade. On the side of it's right arm, the number 2 can be partially seen.

Like Bonecruncher, the Weavile's face looks like some kind of mask, being a more twisted and monstrous version of a Weavile's face, with point teeth. The mask-face somewhat resembles a skeleton's head, a Weavile's in fact. However, unlike Bonecruncher, the Weavile's mask-face thing is placed in a frown.

The last thing about this ghastly Weavile is its eyes. Unlike Bonecruncher's eyes, this Weavile's eyes is are coloured black, apart from its irises, which are white. And instead of a yellow stripe on its mask-face thing, it's a light blue sort of colour.

The monstrous Weavile's black and white eyes follow Lucy and Alastor, as they head towards Fougueux Ville's church. The mask-face thing of the Weavile's turns the frown into a small smile.

"Huh…." The Weavile went, a feminine voice coming out of its mask. "Isn't this... interesting….?"

And then, the monstrous Weavile turned 180 degrees and walked into a wall, phasing through it, making her disappearing completely from view in the street.

* * *

**To be continued.....**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope you enjoyed it!


	8. Secrets are meant to be kept

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After learning of Jack's whereabouts from Kiri's brother, Lucy and Alastor head to the church he mentioned.....

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 7:**

**Secrets are meant to be kept**

* * *

**18 hours until the death of Amos….**

* * *

Lucy and Alastor briskly walk into the church, to try and see if Jack was there. To their disappointment, it appears that wherever what Jack was here for, she's now gone, along with Kiri and Intoxiquer.

As Alastor muttered something under his breath (which sounded like a curse), Lucy noticed about the church's overall look.

First of all, the church's floor pattern is kind of complicated to explain but think the pattern to be like cubes made out of grey, white and black. These cubes, despite being three dimensional, laid flat on the church's floor, all next to each other.

The next thing about the church is the white arches that are both on the right and left, leading up to the alter at the back of the church. The arches' pillars are inscribed with many different patterns that Lucy has not seen before, though she does some recognize inscriptions of Legendries on the pillars. Wooden pillars on attached to stone pillars to help keep the structure of the church up.

Wooden benches can been seen in the church, starting from where Lucy is standing and ending near the alter at the back. They appear to be well kept, polished even. These benches can be seen on either side of the church.

The ceiling above is pure white as well, though stained glass windows placed up there depicting creatures that Lucy hasn't seen before. Some more of these stained glass windows can be seen at the back.

The alter itself is very plain. A large wooden cross is placed on a table covered in a light blue sheet, while a statue of a creature of unknown origin is behind it. A baptising fountain is placed to the right of it.

Off to the right of Lucy, she could see some kind of large box next to an old-looking door. " _That's weird…._ " Lucy thought to herself, rather confused while still looking at the box. " _What on earth is that? Is that a confession box?_ "

"Hey, Luce." Alastor goes, looking around the whole church area himself. Lucy, tearing her attention away from the box, looked at Alastor with a confused expression on her face.

"What is it?"

"Doesn't this place…." Alastor started, frowning as he crossed his flippers. "….feels kind of mystical?"

"Mystical?" Lucy asked, surprised by this. Alastor nodded, cocking his head a little.

"Yeah…. It feels like something mystical is here, something surrounded by decades of mystery…." He explained to Lucy, with some description on how he's feeling. "….This place just gives me the feeling like it's been here a long time, despite looking almost new….."

Lucy nodded, looking around once again to see the church itself. Now that Alastor has mentioned it, it does feel that way.

"Hmm….." Lucy goes, putting a hand on her chin to think. "….This is certainly a mystery…."

"If it's a mystery that you feeling, you must being here to be seeing!" a cheerful but somewhat deep voice remarked, surprising the young Kirlia and Prinplup.

The two turn to face the church's entrence to see a Blaziken walking in, with a cheerful smile on its face.

By the looks of the Blaziken, it is a male, due to the length of his hair. For some odd reason, the tips of this certain Blaziken's hair are dyed a light purple, but the rest of his hair is the normal for a Blaziken. Another thing about this Blaziken is that it appears to be wearing some sort of collar around his neck, a black and white one.

"Hey, hey, you two! Never fear, your Uncle Ignatius is here!" the Blaziken stated with a slight Unovian accent, rather happy. Lucy and Alastor look at each other with an unsure expression on their faces. They don't have an Uncle Ignatius.

Seeing the expressions of the two Angelo siblings seems to make the Blaziken happier, laughing even. "Oh, you two should see the looks on your faces! Ha ha!" he said, still laughing.

"I'm only messing with you! Of course you wouldn't have an uncle called Ignatius! I do that to all the local kids here in Fougueux Ville! Don't worry!"

" _This guy is strange…."_ Lucy told Alastor, through telepathy. Alastor would have to agree. This Blaziken is weird.

"I should properly introduce myself, as for apology for the weird opening!" the Blaziken started, arms out to offer some peace.

"My name is Ignatius Firesoul, the vicar for this lovely church!" the Blaziken, known as Ignatius, introduced himself in a cheerful and charming way. "I haven't seen you two here before, so I presume that you two are tourists! The local kids come in here from time to time for any issues they may have or just get advice sometimes. Heck, some come here to colour because it's peaceful here! But I'm getting off topic, what are your names?"

"I'm…..Lucy Angelo…." The young Kirlia started, rather shy to introduce herself. Alastor glanced at her with some concern. Lucy, though somewhat good at making friends around her age, she isn't as good introducing herself to adults. The author thinks that Lucy may be nervous around them sometimes though no tragic backstory involving adults is causing this.

Alastor then took his que to introduce himself to Ignatius. "And I'm Alastor Angelo!" the young Prinplup proudly said, puffing his chest out.

"Hmm…..Angelo, huh?" Ignatius goes, frowning slightly before smiling again. "I used to know a Pokémon with the surname of Angelo….Must be a coincidence…."

Lucy nodded, then looked around the church area. "If you don't mind me asking, what religion is this church? It doesn't seem to be a church for worshippers of Arceusism…."

Ignatius nodded. "You are absolutely right about that, little Lucy!" he remarked, smiling cheerful. "This is a Christian church!"

Lucy is taken aback by this, surprised. "I didn't expect that….!" She stated, still surprised over this. While she said that, Alastor itches his head.

"Umm….sorry for being ignorant…." Alastor started, feeling sorry for himself, poking his two flippers together. "….But I don't know any of those religions…"

Lucy scowled at Alastor, rather annoyed. "Why don't you?! Don't the teachers at our school teach you anything in Religious Studies?!"

"I….don't pay attention. The teacher that teaches my class is rather….boring, with all his lectures! It's hard to concentrate with all that yammering!"

Lucy sighs as Ignatius chuckles a little. "Ha ha ha….." he goes, still rather cheerful. "I see that you don't know that much! Let me explain!"

The two Angelo siblings turn their attention to the Blaziken vicar, as he explained. "In our world, especially in our country here, the main religion is Arceusism! The religion of Arceusism involves the followers worshipping and praying to their gods, the Legendary Pokémon of our world!

There are many different parts of Arceusism that the followers can choose to worship, depending on what type of problems that face their daily lives. For example, if a musician were to have troubles think up a musical melody or lyrics to a song they may be writing, they would pray to the Goddess of Music, Meloetta!

Or, if a fighter is training to become stronger, but lacks the willpower, they would pray to the God of Willpower, Azelf, for more willpower for their goal.

In any case, if there a problem that may be occurring, followers of Arceusism can pray to the Legendary Pokémon to help solve them through blessings. But, it's also polite for the worshippers to offer tributes to the Legends, in thanks for their blessings and to appease them!"

Alastor nodded, still frowning. "I see….But do Legendary Pokémon actually exist? Like the title suggests, they're, well, legends!"

Ignatius nodded, taking the question in seriously. "Yes….I do believe they did exist at some point in the past, but like the human race, they all just disappeared one day, without a trace!"

The vicar Blaziken looked round the church area. "In fact, speaking of humans, we're currently standing in one of the many remnants of the human race. This church was here a long time before even the founders of Fougueux Ville came here!"

Lucy gasped a little. She always knew from History classes that the human race just mysteriously disappeared one day along with the Legendary Pokémon, but never knew about old buildings. She looked around, shocked by this.

"But this place looks practically brand-new! It doesn't even look about a year old, let along more than five hundred years old!" she stated, shocked.

Ignatius nodded once again. "That is correct….The inside DOES look quite new but that's because it gets refurbished once every 15 years. In fact, the most recent refurbishment was just a few months ago…." He started, wistfully. "Geez, me and Amos had a great shock when we came in when it was finished!"

The vicar Blaziken shook his head, and smiled cheerful. "However, the outside of the church tells another story! This building is old, even older than the population combined! The reason the outside looks so good is that there are many historic fanatics will to help keep the building in shape! Just like the railway!"

The two Angelo siblings nodded in response of that, but then Alastor had another question. "What about this 'Christian' thing you mentioned?"

The vicar Blaziken nodded, with a smile. "Well, Christianity, as the religion is called, is a belief that Pokémon can choose to follow." Ignatius started, smiling a little.

"The main part of the religion is that we believe that the universe as we know it wasn't made by Arceus himself, rather a more celestial being created the universe, known as God!"

Lucy nodded. She knew about this from school but as we ALL know by now….! That Alastor doesn't pay attention in Religious Studies, thus is important for him. For goodness sake, why didn't you pay attention, Alastor?!

Anyway, getting back to Ignatius' explanation…. "God created our world in seven days and made Pokemon and humans as equals. One day, he sent down his son, Jesus Christ, to help save us all and let us repent us for our sins! There are many chapters that offer the teachings of God and Jesus Christ, which is a good read. Some parts really help you understand Christ a lot!"

Ignatius pauses for a moment. "Well, not all of the Bible is there…." The Blaziken stated, sighing as he crossed his arms. "The Bible as we know it now is incomplete. When the humans left our world with the Legendary Pokémon, so too with the complete structure of the Bible. In our world, we have remains of the humans' existence….."

Ignatius poked his forehead. "Through our history after the humans left, chapters of the Bible have been discovered over the last 5,000 years…..In remnants…. Nobody knows why that happened but I guess it would have to do with the humans disappearing. One of my friends in town it currently investigating that….."

Ignatius shakes his head. "But what we do have, us Christian Pokémon follow it to our heart, regardless of what's missing! Heck, the statue at the alter is a statue of Christ from when humans were around!"

Alastor nodded, thinking. "I think I do remember something like that being mentioned in class…." Lucy sighed from Alastor's comment.

"But why are you a Christian, despite all this?" Alastor questioned curiously. "Most of my classmates think because it's stupid and pointless to be a Christian because of the missing chapters!"

Lucy was about to berate Alastor for being so insensitive for that question, but to her surprise, Ignatius just chuckled.

"I get that question a lot, you know…." He started, wistfully. "I know about the missing chapters is an issue but I don't really care about that."

Ignatius nodded, smiling gentle this time. "To me, being a Christian is having hope. A hope that one day, this world will be filled with peace. Through the bible's teaching, I want to inspire hope to others, in this otherwise despair-filled world, with all sort of evils going on. To have hope, to spread it, that is what God tells me to do."

Ignatius scratches the back of his head Mareep-ishly. "I know that sounds a bit cheesy but that's what I think! Heh heh!"

Lucy nodded, understanding what Ignatius meant by being a Christian. Alastor smiled a little, saying nothing as he was satisfied with the vicar Blaziken's explanation.

Ignatius grinned. "Well, I hope that clears your questions!" the vicar Blaziken commented cheerfully. "Now would you two like to hear a joke?"

"Huh?" both the Angelo siblings went, surprised by this.

"What do you call a yellow electric mouse Pokémon do when it opens the door slightly to your room to look at you?" Ignatius rhetorically asked, in a joking manner.

Lucy and Alastor look at each other before looking back at Ignatius with confusion. The vicar Blaziken grinned.

"Peek-at-chu!" Lucy groaned on how terrible the joke was while Alastor chuckled a little. Ignatius clapped his hands in celebration.

"YES! I knew that joke would make someone laugh!" Ignatius commented, in celebration. "That will certainly would make Jack laugh!"

That last comment took Lucy off by surprise. "Wait, do you know a church goer by the name of Jacqueline Thunderstorm by per chance?"

Ignatius is taken aback by the question. "Of course I know her!" he remarked, surprised by this, raising his claws up to say ' _Woah, let's calm down for a minute here!_ '

"She's my daughter!"

This takes both the Angelo siblings off by surprise. "Wait, Jack's your daughter?" Lucy questioned seriously, completely shocked by this.

"You know Jack?!" Ignatius asked back, surprised by the two Anglo siblings knowing Jack. He then thought for a moment. "Hmm….Jack did mention making friends with a Kirlia and….how did she put as… 'An enragement penguin' yesterday at dinner…."

Alastor growled a little in mention of that nickname he hated. Ignatius then calmly smiled at the two. "So you two are Jack's newest friends? I'm so glad! Jack….how do I put this…? She finds it hard to make new friends due to a problem of hers. I'm so glad that you made friends with her!"

"Do you know where she is at the moment? We were hoping to, um, hang out…" Lucy asked and half-lied, trying to find out where Jack is. Alastor would have asked but he's still annoyed because of the nickname. Heh heh heh…..penguins….

"Yes I do!" Ignatius declared, grinning. "She said she was heading to the amusement park. She works there, you know? I think it might be closed due to damage from that gas explosion…."

Lucy flinched a little when the gas explosion was mentioned, with Alastor carefully watching her from the corner of his eye.

"…..so I think she's just there today to see what repairs need to be done." Ignatius concluded, calmly. "But I think you two can hang out with her until she's finished? I think her boss wouldn't mind!"

Lucy nodded and smiled. "Thank you for your help, Mr. Firesoul!" Lucy remarked, as she began to leave the church with Alastor. Ignatius grinned sincerely. "It's fine, Miss Lucy Angelo! And please, call me Ignatius!"

As the two began to leave, Alastor paused and turned to face Ignatius with a curious face. "Ignatius." Alastor began, somewhat curiously.

"What is it, Mr Alastor Angelo?" Ignatius replied, calmly.

"Do you know what the phrase 'Beware of Corrupted' means?"

Ignatius frowned, shaking his head. "No. I don't. Sorry about that." Alastor nodded. "Hmm, I see. Never mind. Thanks for your help anyway."

The two Angelo siblings then left the church, Ignatius still wearing the frown on his face. He then sighed and pulled out a mobile phone, dialling a number. After a few rings, the Pokémon on the other side of the phone picked up.

" _Hello?_ "

"Hey, it's me." Ignatius remarked, seriously and somewhat (ironically) coldly. "It appears that Lucy and Alastor have learned about them."

" _You mean 'The Corrupted'?! Damn it! How did they find out?!_ "

"I don't know." Ignatius stated, still rather serious. "But I think it might have to do with Intoxiquer's….choice of who's taking care of his shop while he and Kiri were out."

" _That damn Crobat! It would have been smarter to gone for the fire one!"_

"That doesn't matter now." Ignatius commented, smiling a little. "What's important now is that the day that you were dreading maybe closer than you think. This run-away train-wreck of yours is going to crash soon."

" _Don't you know I know that?! I've been dreading it ever since that day eleven years ago!"_

"I know, my friend." Ignatius said, somewhat sadly. "And I know you've been trying to hide it so hard for so long now. But, ever since Lucy has been in this town since yesterday, the Yellows of the Corrupted have been acting wild. Heck, it's even scaring the other Corrupted. All I'm saying is that Lucy and Alastor have been around the place, asking questions. Heck, they even came to my church."

" _SERIOUSLY?!"_

"Yes." Ignatius replied, calm. "All I'm saying is that you should tell them as soon as possible. To stop any heart break over it. It would be sad, painful, and somewhat stereotypical if she found out you've been keeping this secret from her from anyone but you. You've seen in movies and TV Shows where characters keep painful secrets away. Its cliché, you know?"

"… _Yeah, you're right. As soon as I'm finished with my business at the museum, I'll tell Lucy all about it. The truth._ "

"That's good to know." Ingatius remarked, somewhat confident that his friend on the other side will do the right thing. "May God guide through the painful times that may lie ahead as you only kept this secret and lied out of love and compassion for your daughter."

" _Thank you, Ignatius."_

"No problem, Noah. It's the least I can do."

* * *

**SECRETS ARE MEANT TO BE KEPT**

**SECRETS ARE MEANT TO BE KEPT**

**SECRETS ARE MEANT TO BE KEPT**

**WHY ARE SECRETS MEANT TO BE KEPT?!**

* * *

**A few minutes later….**

* * *

Lucy and Alastor soon arrive at the small amusement park. When they got there, they saw it was empty, with a gate open so they decide to go in.

What they saw inside the small amusement park made them wish that it was open. For starters, there were quite a few palm trees planted around the park. There were quite a few near the restaurant attached to the park, which now that Lucy sees resembles a Tiki hut.

"Look over there, Luce! A bouncy castle!" True to what Alastor had just exclaimed, a bouncy castle was directly left to the restaurant. Since both the restaurant and the bouncy castle are placed to face the see, one could see the crystal blue waters and golden sands of Fougueux Ville's beach. Unfortunately, the bouncy castle is currently deflated as it's not in use. Looks like that's taken the 'bounce' out of things….! Heh, get it?

Moving away from the author's terrible jokes that may or may not be affecting the story's quality (everybody's a critic, even me….), Lucy saw that next to the (deflated) bouncy castle is a go-kart track. Four go-karts which are red, blue, green and yellow are parked neatly to one side in what appears to be an oval-shaped race-track. However, the go-karts are rather smaller than one would think, suggesting that they're probably used for Pokémon younger than Alastor and Lucy.

Beyond that, next to the fence, lies a mini-golf course. Alastor chuckles a little, reminding himself of a friend back at school who loves mini-golf. " _Heh…he did say he never played a pirate-themed mini-gold course…_ " Alastor thought to himself. " _Wait until he gets a load of this….!_ "

Opposite the mini-golf course lies a small train-life ride that goes around in a circle. The look of the train and the open-air carriages are made to exaggerate the features of a train, heck, even the colours makes it clear that it's not an actual mini-engine but just a ride. Who would have thought of a purple and green train?!

Between that and the restaurant lies the maintenance hut that Lucy saw Bonecruncher standing on top of the previous night. It appears that the gash in the ground is being fixed up as a cement mixer is near it. The gashes in the fence and the hut doesn't seem to be repaired yet.

Alastor looked round, confused. "Huh, that's weird." He went, very confused as Jack is nowhere to be seen. "Where is she?"

"I have no clue…." Lucy remarked, just as confused as Alastor is. Suddenly, a click is heard from the maintenance hut, and the two spin round to see a little bit bigger than average Poochyena walking out of the hut, wearing some headphones as it drags out a rake, clearing enjoying the music it was listening to.

Completely stunned by the Poochyena's sudden appearance, the two Angelo siblings stand there in silence as the Poochyena places down the rake and goes to grab a shovel from out of the hut when it notices the two siblings.

The Poochyena quickly pulls out its headphones and pulls them down, approaching Lucy and Alastor with a snarl on its. "HEY!" the Poochyena barks angrily, surprising the two. From the depth of the Poochyana's voice is, Lucy concludes that this Poochyana is a male and has a British accent, a somewhat Dorset accent. "The park is closed, ya see?!"

"Oh…!" Lucy goes, softly. "I'm sorry! We were just…"

"I DON'T CARE!" the Poochyana barked once again angrily. "You two need to get out now, you punks!"

"HEY!" Alastor goes, going up to the Poochyena to glare angrily at him. "No one talks to my sister like that!"

"So you think you're a tough guy, huh?!" the Poochyena remarked sarcastically. "This is what I do to tough guys like you!"

Suddenly, electricity forms around the Poochyena's fangs and he bits Alastor on the flipper extremely quickly.

"ARGGHHHHHHGHHHH!" Alastor yelled out in pain, being electrocuted from the electrical bite. Lucy gasped out in terror, covering her mouth as Alastor jumped back from the hostile Poochyena. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Heh heh heh….That's called Thunder Fang, you twat!" the Poochyena smirked, laughing at the two. "And there's plenty more where that came from!"

"We just want to fi-" Lucy started to reason with the Poochyena, rather to talk then fight. However, the Poochyena wasn't have any of it.

"SHUT UP!" the Poochyena yelled at Lucy. "You two are trying to trick me, so you can steal from the amusement park!"

"Wait, that's not wh-" Lucy tried to once again reason. The Poochyena snarled at Lucy, making her silent.

"Well, you ain't fooling me, punks!" the Poochyena started, angrily. "As long as my name is Sam Barker, no Pokémon, alive or dead, is going to trick me!"

Suddenly, fire starts to form around the Poochyena's fangs, who is known as Sam. "Prepare yourself for a world of hurt!" he shouted angrily, as he launched himself at the two to attack.

* * *

**Battle Start!**

**Lucy and Alastor Angelo vs Sam Barker**

**(Never Let Up!)**

**FIGHT!**

* * *

Sam, being completely unreasonable, attempts to bite Lucy with a Fire Fang. Dodging out of the way, Lucy retaliates with a Magical Leaf. However, since Sam is using Fire Fang, the leaves burn up as he bites them.

In the meantime of that happening, Alastor uses Hone Claws on himself, to gain higher Attack and Accuracy. Once Sam had finish burning the leaves, Alastor strikes with a Metal Claw, catching the Poochyena off guard.

"Argh!" Sam yells out in pain. He then gritted his teeth and got a bit more serious. His fangs began to spark electricity again as he tried to bite Alastor by using Thunder Fang again. However, Lucy jumped in front of Alastor, using Protect to stop the attack from hurting her brother and herself.

Sam jumps back, onto the train as his fangs begin to drip with poison, showing that he was about to use Poison Fang. As he was about to launch himself at Lucy, both the Angelo siblings blasted out a combination of Bubblebeam and Dazzling Gleam, throwing the Poochyena against the ride.

Getting back up, Sam smirked. "Heh heh…you two are good….. But let's see what you can do about this!"

Suddenly, Sam uses Double Team to create copies of himself, and then uses Dig to dig underground, with all the other copies digging underground as well. The two Angelo siblings look around confused, to see where Sam will turn up.

Then, Sam appears from underneath Lucy, throwing her up into the air whilst surprising Alastor. Sam then uses Poison Fang to hurt Lucy and also grab her leg. Whilst still in the air, Sam throws Lucy towards Alastor, causing the two to crash into each other and be back against the fence facing the sea.

When the two got back up on their feet, they saw that Sam had used Double Team again, but this time his fangs were surrounded by ice particles, showing that he was about to use Ice Fang. To stop him approaching, Lucy and Alastor use Bubblebeam and Magical Leaf to get rid of the copies, leaving one Poochyena behind.

Sam, seeing that his trick had be exposed, used Scary Face quickly to slow down the Angelo siblings, who were about to attack. Then, switch up his moves, used Thunder Fang on Alastor to cause some damage.

Lucy, about to attack with Dazzling Gleam, was suddenly hit by Sucker Punch from Sam, who acted quickly. As he was about to use Poison Fang on Lucy, Alastor grabbed Sam by the fur and attacked Sam with a barrage of Fury Attacks.

Then, as Sam was about to attack Alastor from that attack, Lucy used Magical Leaf again on Sam, this time hitting him. Sam once again used Poison Fang, this time on both of them. When both of them were stunned from the attack, Sam used Thunder Fang on Alastor again.

But, little to Sam's knowledge, from the get-go of this battle, Alastor had secretly used Bind to store up the power of this attack from Sam's advances. As Sam was about to use Thunder Fang once again to knock out Alastor, the Prinplup unleased his Bind attack against Sam, blasting him with the energy stored up.

This caused Sam to fly over to the other end of the park, hitting the fence and being knocked out.

* * *

**VICTORY!**

**THE WINNERS ARE: Lucy and Alastor Angelo!**

* * *

"Ugh…." Alastor goes, going on one knee as he tiredly huffed and puffed to regain his breath. "That…was tough…."

"That was amazing!" Lucy remarked, surprised by the fact that Alastor knows Bind. "Since when did you know Bind?! I thought you got rid of that move ages ago!?

"Since when did you know Dazzling Gleam?!" Alastor replied, somewhat rhetorically. "I thought Mum didn't want you to know that move until you were a Gardevoir!"

"Touché."

"Urgh….It's not over yet…." Sam stated, somewhat pissed, as he came over from where he got knocked out. Lucy and Alastor gasped in fright as the Poochyena grinned, some blood coming out of his mouth and a couple of bruises on his nose. "What can I say? I'm impressed…..but who said it was over?"

Fire begins to form around Sam's mouth again, as he prepared to attack. "I say it's over when I BEAT THE HELL OUT OF YOU TWO PUNKS!"

"SAM, 'HAT THE FECK DO YA THINKING YA DOING THERE, YOU EEGIT!" a very familiar Irish voice called out angrily. The fire around Sam's fangs disappear, as he looked over to the entrance to the amusement park.

Lucy and Alastor looked over as well, and saw (to Alastor's knowledge as he's met them), Simone Keyes the Aipom, Vincent Judy the deaf Lucario and a very pissed off Jack Thunderstorm the Luxio.

Jack came over and hit Sam on the head with quite some force with her paw. Lucy was quite put off guard considering the size difference between the larger than usual Luxio compared to the Poochyena.

"'hat the feck are yer doing 'here, Sam?!" Jack questioned angrily, glaring at the Poochyena. Despite the fact that Jack was much larger than her, Sam didn't seem fazed by her towering above him.

"These two punks came inside without permissions. They're intruders!" Sam replied bluntly, which seemed to make Alastor angry.

"Punks?! More like you, you idiot!" Alastor yelled at Sam. "You're the one who attacked us!" The comment made by Alastor seemed to make Jack angry though.

"HEY! Don't you call my best friend 'hat, you gowl!"

Lucy and Alastor look at each other before back at Jack.

"WHAT?!"

* * *

**To be continued…..**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the story! Please, leave a comment on what you think!


	9. PRESS SPACE (REDUX)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking a different point of view this time, we look at what Jack was doing on the night of Bonecruncher's attack.....

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 8:**

**PRESS SPACE (REDUX)**

* * *

**Flashback Start:**

* * *

 

" _There are two things in this world 'hat all living things share in common. Despite all difference that may occur, two things are certain for living things to experience. Many have tried to stop one of these experiences from happening, but it is a guaranteed thing to happen. Ya cannot avoid these things not matter what._

_What are they, ya ask? The two things 'hat every living thing experiences is the sensation of being alive and the sensation of dying._

… _..Aye. 'hat's correct. Everything experiences being alive at some point, being sentient or not. Some living things can live for a long time or a short time. But what those living things, regardless of how long they live, must face the embrace of death one day._

_Though the ones that do pass away have run out of time, we should all mourn for them in the various stages of grief, as they have passed onto the next stage, either onto heaven, hell or recantation, depending on what ya believe in._

_Hmm? Too scary? Sorry dear, I was only answering yer question, that's all. Maybe I did go too far into detail._

_What's 'hat? What are the stages of grief, Jackie? 'hat's a very good question!_

_Denial. Anger. Bargaining._ _Sadness. Acceptance. Those are the stages the grief, ya see._

_Denial is the first stage in grief. It's when yer in shock of what's happening, and yer cannanot believe what is happening, 'hat a person 'hat ya love is gone. 'hat is a terrible feeling and is something 'hat all living thing must go through._

_Anger is the second stage. When ya experience anger when grieving, ya feel like ya been wrong. Why has the person died, ya ask? Why on earth do they have to die? It's not fair 'hat they had died, why couldn't someone mean less had died?! These are the sorts of questions 'hat ya will when in anger, when ya release the angry emotions out._

_Bargaining is the third stage. This is when ya would do anything to bring 'hat person back because ya missing them so much. Ya feel like ya will do things 'hat you never expect to do, like selling everything ya have or selling ya soul to the devil. 'hats how ya know ya on this stage, when ya will do pretty much anything to bring them back._

_The fourth stage is the most obvious, of course. Sadness is this stage. Sadness is when ya realise 'hat there's nothing that ya can do be bring back yer loved one. The amount of sadness 'hat ya feel will overcome ya, as ya may experience this stage for a short time or a long time._

_The last stage is Acceptance. Jackie, this is most far the important stage. In this stage, you have to accept 'hat yer loved one is gone and ya have to move on, as it's the part of life. Death happens, and it comes for us all one day._

… _.Aye, I suppose that's scary, Jackie. But ya shouldn't fear death. In fact, ya should embrace death if it was an old friend. Ya should do 'hat if ya feel 'hat ya lived a long and grand life. I think with parents like us, ya will have a pure good chance on 'aving a good life, eh, Jackie?"_

" _Aye, daddy!"_

* * *

 

**Flashback End**

* * *

**In the past, an hour before Bonecruncher's attack on Lucy….**

* * *

Jack walked down a street whilst carrying a small bag by her side, heading back to her home as the sky shone a bright and brilliant twilight dusk as the sun dipped down on the horizon of the sea nearby. The Luxio gazed off into the horizon with a smile as the clear sky slowly crept into the night.

"Heh, 'hat's a deadly good sunset there…." Jack murmured to herself with a smile on her face. "Make me want a good glass of scoops…..But, Ignatius wouldn't want me ossified yet because I'm not legal yet….Eh, I'm grand with 'hat….I can see why…"

Jack turned left at a street junction to head towards her house, which is about two houses away. As she stopped and turned to look at the horizon again, the street lamps came on. Jack's eyes then moved over to where the town centre of Fougueux Ville is, more onto where the arcade is. Though viewing it from a distance, Jack could make out the shape of the building barely, with the most of it covered in shadows from the back.

Jack frowned as she remembered the Kirlia and the Prinplup that she encountered earlier that day. Complete strangers to her but as per usual, Jack somewhat cares about them. " _Hmm….'hose two are few years younger than me but still….they're very innocent. Quite clever as well, 'hat Kirlia….the Prinplup however…not so much…._ "

Jack then pulled out the pill from out of her hair, which now is covered by a plastic covering. She stared at the pill intently, trying to think on where she remembered it from. It feels somewhat familiar towards her. Frowning and shaking her head, Jack stuff the plastic-covered pill back into her hair and continues to walk towards her home.

Once in front of her home, and with a little spring in her step, Jack bounds towards the door and opens it with the handle. The moment she opened the door a little bit, the heavenly scent of a cooked meal flowed through the opening of the door. Grinning, Jack then proceeded to open the door wider, now able to get in and shut the door behind her.

The sight that greeted her was a familiar one in her house, which is a hallway from the front door. From what can be seen from the front door, two floor mats are there, one of them a harsh rough texture to it and being a light brown colour which is used to wipe your feet on. The other mat is much longer and the colour is a lighter shade of black, which contrasts the somewhat-cream coloured carpet that it lies on. The walls itself are also cream coloured, though a much different shade of it. On the right side of the wall, a painting of Fougueux Ville's sea side from one of the hills is hanging on that wall. On the other side of the wall, a large mirror can be seen. Four doors can been seen in the main hallway, one of them leading into the main room, one into the computer room, one leading into the shower room and one leading into the kitchen. Currently, the only door open is the kitchen. Before we move onto that, the last thing about the hallway is that a flight of stairs is placed directly across from the shower room, which are both close to the kitchen door.

The kitchen, where the smell of a cooked meal is coming from, has a black-tiled floor and white walls. Against the furthest wall, marble kitchen counters with draws can been seen placed there, along with a fridge and an oven, though those two are placed away from each. A sink is placed to the left of the oven if you were to face it, whilst a dishwasher is placed between the two. Another counter is placed on the left wall of the kitchen, with white cupboards above and below it. Several food-related items, like pepper for example, are placed under the above cupboards whilst an item called a slow cooker can been seen, cooking the meal slowly inside itself (though near completion.) A small glass and metal table is placed in the middle of the kitchen, which can hold up to four seaters.

As Jack was about to walk into the kitchen, her father, Ignatius Firesoul appeared with a grin, whilst wearing an apron that says ' _Please do not do anything to the cook!_ ' on it. "Ah, Jack!" he went, picking up a large plastic spoon to serve up the food. "You're just in time for dinner!"

Walking into the kitchen, Jack noticed that the table has already been set up with some knives and forks, though the bowls for the meal is on the counter, ready to be served. Jack also noticed that there two guests in the house, two familiar guests.

Amos Lettigo the Meowstic is sat at one of the seats, reading a book called ' _The Appetite Tournament_ '. With a cup of Chinese tea by his side, the fifty one year old Meowstic glanced up and gave a kind smile to the Irish Luxio, before going back to his book. The other guest is Sam Barker the Poochyana, who's currently fast asleep on his chair while upside down, snoring as all of his paws are up in the air. Since Jack's chair is next to Sam's, the Luxio in questioned jumped up onto her chair whilst nudging Sam's chair a little.

This was enough to wake Sam up in a frenzy. "Wha-wha-what?!" Sam questioned all too quickly, being startled when being awakened. Seeing his friend next to him, Sam smiled sleepily.

"Ah…..morning Jack…" Sam goes yawning, changing his position to sit upright. Jack chuckled a little. "It's evening, ya sleepily head!"

Sam then checked his phone which was on the table, for the time. "Oh….so it is….." Sam yawns once again. "….I'm….still a little tired….."

Jack frowned, cocking her head slightly as Ignatius placed down her meal in front of her despite her looking at Sam. "How come ya knackered, Sam? Ya not usually this knackered, ya muppet!"

Amos closed his book all of a sudden, surprising the young ones as Ignatius placed down his meal. "Sam was chasing and fighting the Pokémon who were bullying Peter again." Amos commented on the situation. "Also, thank you Ignatius."

"No problem, Dad!" Ignatius chirped happily as he placed down Sam's meal before going to grab his meal. Jack smirked deviously.

"Ah, 'hose punks again!" Jack went, chuckling a little. "I assume ya gave them a pure good baytin, Sam? I beat ya scared the heck out of 'hose boxes!"

The said Poochyana shook his head, to first get out of his dreamy state and to say no to Jack's question. "Nah, gave them a good fright instead. I would have beaten them up but Amos stopped me before I got a chance."

"Just because I'm a retired detective and now working at a theme park doesn't mean I don't stop any fights from happening!" Amos retorted, looking somewhat impressed and not impressed at Sam at the same time. "I get what you were trying to do was good but there are other ways to solve situations with violence. After all, that's what I learnt as a police officer!"

Placing down his own meal, having removed the apron and sitting down, Ignatius nodded. "I'll agree. You should know there are other ways to solve things. Isn't that what Intoxiquer and I been trying to teach you five about?"

Sam nodded, rubbing his head slightly. "Yeah. I just lost my temper again. Peter's young, after all." He commented calmly, with everyone else nodding. The young Poochyena then turned to Ignatius. "Do you want to say grace?"

Ignatius nodded once more as he put his claws together in a prayer position. The other three Pokémon in the room did the same thing with their paws. "Bless, O Lord, this food to our use and us to thy service, and keep us ever mindful of the needs of others. In Jesus' Name, Amen." Ignatius prayed to God, in a clear and pronounced manner.

"Amen." The other three remarked after Ignatius and with him, began to dig into the food. Jack's eyes become starry the moment she tasted the meal.

"Oh, this meal is savage!" she went excitedly, after swallowing the first part. "What's in this, Ignatius?"

"Heh, it's a beef stew with a red wine gravy with some garlic, cumin and plenty of carrots, potatoes, cabbage and peas!" Ignatius boasted, rather proudly of his work. Amos nodded, tasting some of the meal.

"Yeah…. It is nice. Good job, Ignatius." Amos commented somewhat bluntly, smiling a little as he took in a sip of his tea. As the 51 year old Meowstic remarked that, Jack glanced over to see Sam eating the food as fast as he can, with bits of food flying everywhere like it was shrapnel flying everywhere.

While Amos looked at Sam with a disgusted look on face and Ignatius looking somewhat startled, Jack began to laugh her head off. "Hahahahahaha!" she laughed heartily, as Sam took a moment to catch his breath and get a drink. "Ya look absolutely barmy, Sam!"

Sam grinned, with food still stuck on his face. "Yep! The food's nice!" he commented, wagging his tail a little. Then, Sam's face drops a little, looking at Jack's hair. "Hey, what's that?" he asked, pointing towards Jack's hair, where he could see a piece of plastic sticking out.

Jack then suddenly remembered the pill in her hair, and quickly put down her knife and fork to then retrieve the pill that she got from Lucy earlier that day.

"I've been meaning to ask, Ignatius…." Jack started off in a confused tone of voice, handling it over to Ignatius. "I'm feeling like I 'ave seen this pill before….But for the good in me, I cannanot remember where….I feel like a right tool…. Do ya recognize it?"

Ignatius nodded, as Amos lean in slightly to have a better look at it. "Yep. You're sure to remember it, Jack. After all, you used to take it."

"Really?!" Jack went, eyes widen in surprise, leaning back. "I did? Then what's it called then?"

"I can explain that." Amos interrupted quickly before Ignatius could reply to Jack's question, grabbing the red and green pill in question away from the vicar Blaziken. "Though the scientific and official name for this pill is ' _Ignoranceoxide Blindness-glycine',_ amongst us it's called the 'Blinding Tablet'."

Having cleaned his face a little, Sam frowned. "Huh? Why is it called that?" Sam questioned, extremely curious to Amos.

"It is called that because when you take it, you become temporally blind to seeing the Corrupted, and anything related to them." Amos continued to explain, seriously. "Not only that, the drug also causes the body to emit a scent that is cannot be smelled by anything but the Corrupted, which repels them."

Amos looked at the pill intently at the pill, with some confusion, before putting it on the table. "My question is, Jacqueline, where did you get this? As far as I'm aware of, Intoxiquer doesn't make them anymore."

Jack grinned nervously. "Ah…I meet with a Kirlia in town earlier and she took these pills as part of her medication…." Jack confessed, somewhat ashamed by this. "I….recognized the pills….So I asked if I could take one…so I could know where…"

Jack then stares at Ignatius with a serious look, whilst the said vicar Blaziken stared blankly. "I didn't do natin, I swear! I'm not a bleeding eegit, for feck's sake!"

"Meh, I believe you." Ignatius goes, calmly, with Amos face-palming on how Ignatius calm he is. "Just don't do it again, okay? You know it's against the law to ask for a drug."

Jack nodded, somewhat sheepishly. "But, 'hat's not all. Since I know what that tablet is now, there's something 'hat's bothering me…" she started, curiously. "'hat Kirlia said she takes 'hose tablets to stop hallucinations…. Is she not aware of the Corrupted….?"

Amos nodded, crossing his arms. "Did she ever mention anything about them?" he asked. When he saw that Jack shook her head, he thought for a moment.

"Hmm…..Maybe you could find some answers later on when you're doing your search of the town for any yellow Corrupted along with Charlotte and Ignatius." he stated seriously, starting to eat again by picking up his knife and fork. "Sam can't do it tonight."

Jack is taken aback, and looked over to Sam, who looks quite annoyed. "Okay, I'm locked out of my home again!" he declared, rather irate whilst bearing his fangs. "I forgot to take my keys with me this morning when I went to work and Mom doesn't get back until much later on…..

I can't do my search this evening because of that….I can't get my stuff…."

Jack chuckled a little. "I guess you 'locked' out on this occasion, eh, Sammy boy? There is not 'key' to this situation, eh?" Jack punned horribly. While Ignitaus laughed and Amos gave a somewhat cheerful sigh, Sam face-palmed himself.

"I swear to all that is good, Jack, if you weren't my best friend, I would killed you a long time ago for all those stupid puns you make….."

"Guess I'm not 'punny', then?"

"I SWEAR TO GO-"

* * *

**SECRETS HURT THE ONES YOU CARE ABOUT**

**THEY HAVE HURT ME BEFORE**

**NOT WITH PUNS, BUT…WELL, YOU KNOW.**

* * *

**Later on, about five minutes until Bonecruncher attacks…**

* * *

"Sigh…." Jack goes somewhat bored, walking through Fougueux Ville with a bag of filled with items and her silver cross wrapped around her neck. "There's nathin tonight…. Nah Corruptors or anything…."

Turning right into a corner, Jack is heading towards where one of the main tourist points in Fougueux Ville is located, ' _Coco Charlie's_ '. Walking straight for a moment, then turning left, Jack walked into an open alleyway that lead into a dead end.

The alleyway is colourful, with all sorts of colours from the top to the bottom, though draped in shadows as it is night time and a shine of yellow light in coming nearby from a street lamp. On the left side appears to be a newspaper office for Fougueux Ville's local newspaper. The slightly uneven cobblestone pavement is hard to see at night, through it can been seen much more thanks to the street lamp. The pavement seems to go smoother towards the building on the right, where 'Coco Charlie's' is located. Nothing can be said much for the store now since it's closed at night, apart from a cartoon image of a Charizard with different types of cartoony chocolate can be seen on the window.

Jack looked round, frowning to herself. "Eh, no bleeding Corruptors 'ere either. Nat even Charlotte is about…." Jack murmured to herself, quietly as she turned round to head back out of the alleyway. Suddenly, a sound of scuttling could be heard, and Jack glances round to see an Ariados had appeared from the shadows, looking around. It had an unusual colour scheme, different from a shiny one.

In fact, from the previous chapter about Bonecruncher (yes, I know it's breaking the fourth wall here, but whatever!), this Ariados has a similar colour scheme. The majority of its body is a pure white, where the red parts would be. For the yellow and purple parts, instead are grey and black, respectfully in the order of what I just listed as. As for where the black parts of its body, instead a pussy-yellow colour is there instead.

Just like Bonecruncher, this Ariados is much larger than a regular one, looking more monstrous as well. Also like the ghastly Garchomp, it has spikes over its body, more dominate on its main head spike for an Ariados and front legs. However, these spikes are more curved than completely straight spikes. Furthermore, the face area looks like a more monstrous version of an Ariados' face, looking like a mask as well. An extra pair of fangs are around the Ariados' mouth, being smaller than the normal pair while its eyes are black and white. Lastly, a red strip is placed across its face, horizontally with the number 4 under its left eye

"Sneh neh neh….." the Ariados goes, chuckling a little, head cocking slightly. "…..What are you doing about here…..little Jack?"

"Oh." Jack started, blankly. "Sup, Billy. I'm just searching for yellow Corruptors. It seems there aren't any around tonight."

The Ariados scuttles in frustration, on the spot. "Ehhhhh….." it started, growling in frustration. "You know that's not my name! It's Stringslicer, not 'Billy'!"

"I'm not going to call you by your Corruptor name, Billy." Jack remarked casually, glancing to where she was about to leave through.

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW MY REAL NAME!" Stringslicer yelled out angrily, but then they shake their head. "Never mind…..I hear that you're looking out for yellow Corruptors?"

Jack turned her attention back to Stringslicer, with a frown. "Aye. 'hat's what I said, don't wear it out." She replied to Stringslicer's question. "What about it?"

"Sneh neh neh…." Stringslicer laughed to themselves, somewhat amused. "Only a few are around tonight…..and not powerful ones either….."

"Meh…." Jack went, somewhat disheartened. "'hat's pure disheartening…..I wanted a savage battle as well…."

Stringslicer scuttles a little, looking somewhat nervous. "There's something else….." they started, looking rather nervous as they look around. "Recently, the Corrupted of this town have been acting funny since earlier today."

"Wadda you mean?" Jack questioned, having a confused expression on her face. Stringslicer looked round anxiously.

"Two new Seers is in town, and it's made the Corrupted society rather nervous." Stringslicer replied, scuttling on the spot nervously. Jack became surprised by what Stringslicer had said, as they continued "We don't know if they're highly trained Pokémon Seers or just regular 'Mon with Seer blood…..All we know that it's freaking everyone else in the town, and it's caught the attention of the powerful yellow Corruptors."

Jack nodded, taking this seriously. "And what type of Pokemon do ya think they are?" Jack questioned once more, having an idea who one of them might be. Stringslicer cocked their head slightly, thinking.

"According to the red Corruptor Elders…." Stringslicer started, trying to remember what they've been told. "….one of them is a Kirlia…. With a Prinplup brother. We're think that the Kirlia may have no idea they're a Seer. She's attracting attention but somehow disappearing on us when we try to follow her….She reeks of Seer blood though…."

"She thinks seeing yer and the regular kind are some kind of hallucinations." Jack confirmed, gritting her teeth slightly. "She's been taking the Blinding Tablet. 'hat's how she was able to hide from yas. Ya might think she's being an utter tool, but methinks 'hat's what she's been told since she was only a wee lass. 'hat's actually a good idea if ya find yaself 'hat yer children are Seers from a young age."

Stringslicer nodded, thinking that is the best conclusion. "If that's true, that must mean that her parents must know something about it. You might need to go check that out."

"Aye." Jack remarked, casually. "I don't know where they are at the moment, but I'll gotta check them at some point and be whist frank with them…."

" **GRRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!"** a suddenly loud roar came from nowhere. Jack turned round to face the exit of the alleyway, looking surprised.

"Where da feck did 'hat come from?" the Iris Luxio questioned, looking rather startled. Jack glance to Stringslicer, who was crawling around on the spot in a major panic, black and white eyes widened in fear.

"Oh no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!" Stringslicer repeated in a panic. "T-t-that's B-Bonecruncher's roar!"

"Bonecruncher?! Who the feck is 'hat?!" Jack snapped, rather annoyed at Stringslicer's antics. The said ghastly Araidos scuttled in the same spit again.

"Bonecruncher is a Garchomp Corruptor, a yellow one as well!" Stringslicer remarked in a panic. "Though he's a four like me, he's known to be extremely violent and loves eating Seers! He must have found a Seer! That roar sounds pretty close"

Jack's mind began to run in motion, to think who this Bonecruncher is attacking. " _Sam's at mine, Charlotte is near the theme park, Kiri is with Intoxiquer and her brothers and every Corruptor is smart enough not to attack us in a group, Peter is at his home, Ignatius is at the outskirts…..Who is he attacking…..?"_

Then, suddenly, an image of Lucy appeared in Jack's mind as the Luxio remembers that she is also a Seer as well.

"Oh feck me!" Jack goes, bolting off in a hurry. "Lucy's in trouble!"

Leaving Stringslicer behind, Jack exited the way she came into the alleyway, and appeared on the main street on where the Jewellery shop is and the American Restaurant is as well. Jack looked round as she stood on the opposite side of those two that I just described. DEAL WITH IT!

But anyway, as Jack looked round on the darkened street, she noticed that the Jewellery shop has a broken. Dashing over the street to the window, Jack sees that Alastor, Lucy's brother, is lying in the shop unconscious on a heap of glass, wooden and rare stones.

"Oh me Arceus!" Jack gasped in shock. "This Bonecruncher is dangerous!"

Suddenly, Jack hears a scream coming from the small amusement park, snapping her head towards where the scream came from. Confirming that Bonecruncher and Lucy are over there, Jack glanced over to the unconscious form of Alastor.

"I'll be right back, buck!" Jack stated to Alastor, despite being unconscious at the time. "Sorry!"

Dashing off to head up to the amusement park, Jack came across the scene of some attacks, seeing the massive cut in maintenance shed caused her to growl in anger.

"Feck…. Guess me and Sam will 'ave to fix 'hat….." she said to herself as she dashed over to the part of the amusement park where it overlooks the sea. Looking around, Jack sees a large, ghastly Garchomp about to bite Lucy, who was bleeding from one of her arms.

Wide-eyed, Jack then ripped off her silver cross from her neck and held it in her paw. " _Silver Cross of Anger, Stage 1: Rage of the flames!_ " Jack whispered to the cross, trying not to gain the attention of Bonecruncher.

Then, Jack's cross begins to glow a red aura, which then heats up rapidly. Despite the rapid heat, it seems it doesn't affect Jack at all, who puts it in front of her with both paws on it. An orb of scarlet red energy forms around Jack, completely engulfing her as it spits off like fire, like if she was going through her own version of Mega Evolution or Primal Reversion. Like the former of those two, a symbol appeared on the scarlet red energy, which appears to be a closed black eye. Suddenly, the eye opens horizontally, revealing a lighting blue iris. After that appears, the orb breaks, with Jack emerging from it.

The appearance of Jack has changed quite a bit. First of all, blue flames have appear around Jack's eyes, coming from the tear ducts. Speaking of eyes, her eye colour has changed to lighting blue. Her hair appears to be on fire as well, though it doesn't seem to be hurting her. Finally, yellow flames are engulfing her paws, all four of them.

But the most surprising of all is how drastically her cross has changed. No longer is it a silver cross but a knight's sword is in its place. Being slightly large than Jack (she is bigger than the regular Luxio by the way. I think I mentioned that in chapter 3, I guess?), but being able to lift it is impressive. However, a ribbon of flames is wrapped around its handle, for its form.

Seeing that Bonecruncher hasn't noticed her, Jack grins, with some pink flames coming out her mouth. "You ain't gonna eat her, ya absolutely scumbag!" she declared quietly. Throwing her weapon up to the air above Bonecruncher, Jack jumped up at it and grabbed tightly.

She then came down hard on Bonecruncher, slicing him so thinly and quickly he didn't have a chance to react, though it did make a large slicing sword in the process. Landing on the road in front of the small park area where Bonecruncher had slammed Lucy on the ground, Jack glanced over to see that the ghastly Garchomp had noticed her but realised it was too late.

Bonecruncher dropped Lucy down on the ground, beginning to disintegrate as his body appears to be burning. Blinking, Bonecruncher looked at his claws with a scowl as his mask begins to crack.

"Gaara…." He went, moaning in some pain. "…I couldn't…get…one…last….meal…."

As the rest of his body disintegrated, leaving nothing but his cracking mask behind, the mask dropped to the ground, shattering into many piece.

Jack sighed as her transformed faded away, returning her back to normal. Blinking with her yellow eyes, Jack walked over to Lucy and was about to say something when suddenly Intoxiquer and Kiri arrived, surprised to see Jack there. Kiri was holding a basket filled with what appears to be medicine.

"Glad ya here…." Jack goes, seriously. "Ya better fix her up quickly!"

Kiri and Intoxiquer nodded, but before they could do that, two more Pokémon appeared, a Gardevoir and an Empoleon. Upon the sight of Lucy's bloody, unconscious form, the Gardevoir screamed in horror and almost fainted as the Empoleon paled in shock.

"LUCY!" the Empoleon yelled, panicking. Intoxiquer flew up to the Empoleon, trying to stop him getting closer as Kiri got some medicine out of her basket to try and heal Lucy's injuries.

"I'm sorry, sir!" Intoxiquer goes, trying to calm down the Empoleon. "But you have to stay back! She might be infected by what's happned."

As Intoxiquer tried to deal with the Gardevoir and the Empoleon as Kiri continued to get out the necessary medicine to heal Lucy, Jack went over to Lucy, looking at her.

"Arh!" Jack goes, smiling as she spoke softly with a reassuring tone of voice. "Don't worry there, feek. We'll get ya fixed up in no time….."

* * *

**Meanwhile….in the present day….**

* * *

 

"So, Sakura." A voice goes, smoothly but calmly. "Have your finally found our target?"

The Pokémon known as Sakura nodded, chuckling a little. "Gheh heh heh heh….you bet boss! I know what he's gonna do tonight!"

"Hmmm…" the first voice goes, thinking. "That's good and all but I wished you didn't laugh so evilly. It seems…boring."

"What do you mean, boss?" Sakura questioned, curiously about this. The Pokémon known as 'Boss' shrugged, somewhat bored.

"What I mean is, in these sorts of situations where our identity is currently unknown to the readers of this story, evilly laughing seems rather cliché, doesn't it? They'll probably think we're pure evil villains, you see? What if we have a tragic backstory to why we're doing this, but they dismiss it because we're laughing evilly? It gives a wrong impression, you see? I want to try and avoid that."

Sakura nodded, seeing where the boss is coming from. "I see…..I guess those sorts of things may be a necessary evil, boss."

The boss rubbed the back of their head. "I guess you're right. But, getting back to our target, what's he doing tonight?"

"He's gonna do a reading at that dead place in the forest. You know, where the legend of 'him' is said to rest!" Sakura replied back cheerfully.

"Fantastic!" the boss goes, impressed. "You've done a great job, Sakura! Tell Digby and Noirshiro to prepare for phase two of our plan, again."

Sakura saluted. "YES SIR!"

* * *

**THINGS ARE GETTING INTERESTING…..**

**WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?**

* * *

**To be continued….**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! Leave a comment on what you thought about it!


	10. What has been done (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jumping back to Lucy and Alastor, the two begin to learn the truth behind Lucy's condition....

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 9:**

**What has been done (Part 1)**

* * *

**17 Hours until the death of Amos….**

* * *

"So, we're starting on phase two now?" one voice in a room inquired, belonging to a small figure. "That's cool. Looks like you and I are going Corruptor hunting today, Digby!"

"Huh…..Didn't expect the boss to start that phase so soon…." The figure, known as Digby commented, feeling rather odd. "….We haven't even finish phase 1!"

"Upupupupupu!" laughed the first voice heartily and naughtily. "That's the boss for you! He just starts things without telling us!"

"Didn't the boss tell you to stop laughing evilly?!" Digby questioned, rather annoyed by the laughter. "Besides, if we're starting phase 2 now…..that means that the boss has his target…."

"That's pretty obvious, Digby! Upupupupu!" giggled the first voice somewhat errantly. Though not seen, an irritated growl is heard coming from Digby.

"STOP LAUGHING, NOIRSHIRO!"

* * *

"WHAT?!" both the Angelo siblings yelled out loud, completely shocked by this. The Poochyena, with the shortest temperament that both Lucy and Alastor has ever seen, is the best friend to Jack? That's bizarre!

Jack frowned, giving the impression of some confusion and not being impressed at the same time. "Yer 'eard me!" Jack snapped in annoyance. "Sam's me best friend! Don't call him that!"

With his sister saying nothing, Alastor took a step forward, unsure of the easily tempered Poochyena. "But, he attacked us without letting us explain why we're here!" Alastor explained, complete bewildered by this situation. "How can you be best friends with him?!"

"Aye, 'hat's is true." Jack commented, quite calmly. "Sam may be Fougueux Ville's local asshole…."

"Tis true." Sam remarked, grinning somewhat darkly. "It is I, Sam Barker, the local asshole! And I don't know anything about anime, other the fact I don't like it!"

"…..but, he's me best friend, and doesn't like anime…though…." Jack continued to explain, still calm though the thought of what Alastor had said about Sam attacking them is still processing in her mind. The said Irish Luxio turned to the Poochyena with a frown.

"What Ally said is true! Yer shouldn't had attacked Ally and Lucy, YA GIMP!" Jack reprimanded angrily at Sam, who was taken aback by this.

"Wait, who's Ally and Lucy?" Sam questioned, gaining a slight scowl on his face as he cocked his head in confusion. Before either Jack or the two Angelo siblings could reply to the question, suddenly Simone Keyes the Aipom, who wasn't in her clown outfit, walked between the four Pokémon, juggling three small beanbags between her two hands and tail hand.

"Ah, that's simple, Sammy!" she responded in a rather silly tone, going to balance on one leg whilst continuing to juggle, using the other leg and foot to help balance and juggle the beanbags. "You see those two Pokémon here that you fought with? That's Ally, or Alastor as he's known as, and Lucy! You should really keep up with times you know? Even Vincent knows who they are!"

Simone stopped juggling the beanbags, which she caught with her tail hand, and then did a series of hand gestures towards the deaf Lucario, who still appears to have his eyes closed but is still able to see somehow. He also no longer has his clown costume and makeup on, but is now wearing a pendent around his neck.

But anyway, when Simone did her hand gestures to Vincent, the said Lucario gained a surprised look on his face, and nodded.

Simone grinned and turned to Sam. "See! Even Vincent knows who they are!" she teased mischievously. "You're being slowly, Sammy!"

"Tch…." Sam went, looking to the side in an annoyed mood. "I…just don't like strangers…"

Jack then proceed to whack Sam hard on his head, causing to grab his head in pain and roll around on the floor. "ARGH! ARGH! IT HURTS! THE PAIN! WHY?!" he questioned to Jack whilst rolling around the floor, somewhat comedic. "THIS FEELS A LOT WORSE THAN IT SHOULD!"

"Because yer being a bit of a twat, Sam!" Jack replied coolly, grinning teasing. Sam gets back up and bears his teeth whilst having anime tears in his eyes.

"BUT THAT DOESN'T GIVE YOU THE REASON TO HIT HIM ME ON THE HEAD!" Sam yelled at Jack angrily. Jack started chuckling a little, causing Sam to cock his head in confusion whilst instantly dropping his anger. "Huh? Why are you laughing?"

"Ya look like a cute gom when ya angry, Sam! Ya shouldn't attack strangers without 'em explaining why they're there, even though ya don't like strangers!" Jack replied, cheekily as she teased Sam. The said Poochyena's face blushed a little as he looked away in embarrassment, muttering something. Jack then turned to Alastor, with a concerned frown on her face.

"Sorry about snapping at ya earlier, Ally." Jack apologised sincerely, with Alastor gaining a startled expression. "I just don't like anyone insulting my friends. If was just banter, I would understand. 'owever, Sam has….well, let's say, he's been picked on a lot. A bunch of tools 'ave picked on him because he's a dark type and 'hat to say he doesn't like strangers is a massive understatement! I care about him…."

Lucy nodded, thinking to herself as she raised a hand to her chin. "I see…." She murmured softly to herself, feeling somewhat sympathetic for the short-tempered Poochyena. She looked at Sam, he seemed to be hiding behind Jack a little, watching her and Alastor intently with a scowl. Lucy then smiles, one filled with mischief.

"Well…." She started, rather coolly. "I guess it's hard sometimes to take Sam so seriously considering how small and cute he is!"

Sam went completely red in embarrassment, as he went up to Lucy look somewhat angry and embarrassed at the same time.

"I-i-I'm not c-cute, you i-idiot!" Sam barked at Lucy somewhat furious at the fact that someone called him cute. "A-and I'm only s-small because I-I'm a f-freaking Poochyena, you dumbass!"

"Ah…." Alastor goes coolly and wisely, claw to chin, catching everyone but Vincent's attention. The said Lucario just cocks his head on confusion, unable to understand what's going on. But anyway, back to Alastor! The said Prinplup stands there, somewhat coolly. "….looks like Sam is acting like a classic Tsundere here!"

"I'M NOT FREAKING THAT!" Sam barked in anger, looking annoyed. Alastor chuckles to himself, and gestured a flipper towards Sam. "So, you know what that term means, then? It seems that you know then you let on!"

"….You know, I can bite you in 17 different painful ways. I wonder which one is the most painful." Sam threatened with a deadpanned expression on his face, staring blankly at Alastor.

"ACK!" Alastor screeched out in fright, taken aback by the Poochyena's threat. Simone then looked at the two separate groups of Pokémon, one made of Lucy and Alastor and the other being Jack and Sam. She then frowned, sticking out two purple paws out to try and stop them.

"All right, all right! Stop it now!" she commanded, seriously. "I don't need arguing in my amusement park here! Sam, stop threatening the potential customers! It's unethical!"

"BUT THEY BROKE INTO HERE!" Sam argued loudly at Simone, looking angry as usual. "THEY'RE TRESPASSING FOR GOODNESS SAKE!"

"Sam." Simon started, glaring disappointedly at the said Poochyena, who became startled at Simone's glare. "One, don't raise your voice. It's rude. Two, you left the door unlocked and forgot to put up the sign! Anyone who would had walked by WILL naturally assume that the park is open!"

Sam blinked for a moment, then flushed red, going silent after realising that. Jack simply laughed at that. "Ahh, the ye olde Sam being a gom! Never gets old!"

Simone sighed, and then turned to Lucy and Alastor with a tired look. "Sorry about that." She apologised, rubbing the back of her head with one of her purple paws. "My amusement park always has the oddest of Pokémon working here…. A short tempered Poochyena is barely one of them! I apologise for his behaviour…."

Lucy shook her head, smiling sincerely while feeling a bit nervous. "It's…..alright. We shouldn't have trespassed in the first place!" she murmured quietly. Simone shrugged, calmly.

"Eh…..It's fine. The problem here was that Sam never bloody listens to anyone! Well, except Jack….and his mother…." Simone asserted, rather peacefully. She sighs once again and then smiles somewhat sheepishly. "Anyway, to make it up to you, I'll whip up a few ice-creams sundaes! My treat!"

Simone then turned to Vincent once again and did a series of hand gestures to communicate with the deaf Lucario. Vincent suddenly gained a surprised expression and then nodded. He then proceeded to head into the building in the small restaurant area. Simone, beginning to juggle the small beanbags again, proceeded to follow him. She stopped for a moment, balancing on one foot as she did so.

"You four!" she spoke with a silly tone in her voice, still juggling the beanbags. "Take a seat over there! Me and Vincent will bring the sundaes out in a few minutes! And Sam, we'll talk about your behaviour later on with your ma!"

With a mutter of something rude from Sam under his breath, Simone went over to the small restaurant to help Vincent with the ice cream. Jack looked round the small group of Pokémon that were standing in an awkward silence. As if she couldn't feel the tension between the Angelo siblings and Sam, she grinned rather impudent.

"…Haha! I hope Simone has something 'hat has a bit of scoops in it!" Jack uttered obviously to the tension. She wandered over to the seat with a spring in her step. Lucy looked nervously at Sam before dashing after Jack to follow her in a tense manner while Alastor, who was rubbing his flipper in pain, and Sam glared at each other with some hostility at each other before following the two over to the table.

The four Pokémon sit in silence on the table, with Jack still obviously to the tension as the two Angelo siblings sit opposite them, looking nervous as Sam looked away, disinterested on what's happening.

"I didn't expect running into yer two today, Lucy and Ally!" Jack started to converse with the Angelo siblings, grinning as she is glad to see them. "How's ya holiday going so far? Good?"

Alastor shrugged, rather calmly while still rubbing his flipper. "Oh, it's been good. Got knocked into a jewellery shop by this monster that I couldn't see! But everyone thinks it's a gas explosion, so…yeah… It's pretty cool so far….." he remarked, rather sarcastically, crossing his flippers with an unimpressed expression.

If Jack was drinking at that moment, she would have done a spit-take in shock. Jack's jaw drops as she gains a dumbfounded expression from what Alastor had said, while Sam's ears perked up as he turns his attention to Alastor with a half-serious and half-unsure look on his face.

"What did you say? A monster attacked you?" he asked seriously, eyes furrowing as he watched Alastor carefully, putting a paw on the table to show how serious he is. Alastor glanced at Sam's paw and then looked dead in the eyes.

With a sigh, Alastor closes his eyes. "I didn't see it at all, per say, but judging from my sister's reaction of what happened before and how she described it to me, I would pretty much say it was a monster…" Alastor goes, uncertainty in his voice as he open up one of his eyes whilst cocking his head. "Ask Lucy if you want to know more…..My…..memory is kinda…fuzzy on what happened…"

Sam turned his attention to Lucy, who became flustered in anxiety as the Poochyena glared at her seriously. "What did the monster look like?!" Sam questioned seriously, hints of him getting impatient in the tone of his voice.

"Um….." Lucy started nervously, eyes dilating as she tried to remember what Bonecruncher looked like, shivering as she recalled the memories. "…..the monster was a Garchomp….but it wasn't like anything I've seen before….! It was….large….bigger than normal! It…..it…was pure white as well….a ghastly white…! I-i-i-it….I-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-it…."

Lucy shivered, recalling the monstrous Garchomp's attack on her. Alastor went to put a flipper on his sister's shoulder, to comfit her. Even though he hasn't heard that much, Sam looked convinced of something, somehow.

"Did it have a stripe on its face? A yellow stripe?" Sam asked slowly but seriously, staring unblinking at Lucy. Becoming even more nervous than before, Lucy nodded slowly and unsure to Sam's question.

**SLAM!**

A sudden slam of Sam's paw on the table both caused Lucy and Alastor to jump in surprise, at the said Poochyena turned away, eyes widened slightly as he muttered to himself something. On the other hand, Jack looked determined about something.

"Hmm…..If you remembered 'hat, then you must 'ave remember…..?" Jack query softly to herself. Catching on to her muttering, Lucy nodded to that, eyes furrowing due to her becoming somewhat serious.

"Yes….I do recall your voice after I was attacked by…t-t-that monster…." Lucy replied, stuttering due to the memories of Bonecruncher's attack. "…..a-a-after me and Alastor woke up….I remembered that and wanted to f-f-find you…and a-a-ask you about it….."

Jack nodded, remaining silent as she thought deeply about something. Alastor crossed his flippers and gained a thoughtful expression, trying to recall something.

"Hey…." He went, catching the attention of the other three Pokémon. "Didn't that Simisage….what's his name…..I think it was….Shinrin? Anyway, we met a Simisage in that Crobat's bookshop and he pointed us in the direction of the church, but he said something odd….what was it again?"

"'Beware of Corrupted'." Lucy stated, blankly and emotionlessly with eyes empty. Though given a shocked look from Jack and Sam about the Corrupted part, Alastor's shocked face is for a completely different reason.

He's never seen Lucy act like this before! Never in all his memories of this life did Alastor ever recall this face! It truly startled him to hell and back, face paling a lot.

"Grrrrrr…!" Sam growled, starting to get very, very angry as he jumped off the seat and began walking to head out of the park. "I'M GONNA KILL THAT SIMISAGE! WHY DID HE DO SUCH A THING?!"

Jack scowled in annoyance, and then turned her head to the small restaurant hut. "Yo, Simone! Cancel those sundaes for another time! We gotta go somewhere! Me and the shams 'ave something important to do!" Jack called out to the Aipom.

" _Okay!_ " Simone's muffled voice called back from the small hut. " _It's kinda of a mess in here anyway! Whatever happened last night sure messed up the electrics!"_

With that, Jack jumped off her seat and then proceeded to follow Sam. The two Angelo blink in confusion, look at each other with MORE confusion (if there was any more confusion, they might as well hurt themselves in confusion!) and turned their heads towards the large Luxio and regular sized Poochyena.

"Where the _heck_ are you two going?!" Alastor questioned, in some annoyance as he has NO idea what's going on!"

"Isn't it obvious, ya muppet?" Jack asked back rhetorically, turning her head towards the two with a scowl. "We're gonna give yas some answers! We're heading to Intoxiquer's!"

* * *

**BUT I WILL SEEK MY REVENGE**

**THE BEST KIND OF REVENGE**

**THE ONE WHERE I GET THE LAST LAUGH…..**

**A̦̳̜͕̣N͖̩̹͕͎̰̻̰͡͞D̯̗̪̘̰̲ ͇̭̪͔̦͚̪̦͝T̛̪͝H̫̰͍͜E̛̖̯̦͖͚̰Ǹ̢͖͓̖ ̶͓̱͔T̸̩̫̘̞̳̙̭H͏̥̯̖̰E̝͎̕Y҉̦̯̟͓͇͇ ̵̟͍̳̼̙̺͇͜W҉͎̩̩͉̻́ͅḬ̭̗̠͓̳̥̦L̴̷̝̯L̡̮̯͙͕͕͕͜͝ ̷̢̲̗͎̞͕ͅS̻̳̪͖̥͓̗̰̪̕͜E̢̱͈̣͚͍̗͖͜͞E̡̙̬̣̖̟**

* * *

"' _Hey, hey, hey….!_ '" A funky tune came out of a music player, as Kiri the Simipour sorted out the books in the book shop, stacking manga books as she listened to the music somewhat happily. Since it was slow today in the bookshop, Intoxiquer went to bed earlier than usual to catch up on his sleep and tasked Kiri to sort out the books as recently some young kids messed around with the books when the Crobat wasn't looking.

Kiri smiled to herself somewhat, as she finished up the manga section of the shop. " _Ha~a~tsu, finished here…._ " She spoke to herself softly, getting up as she was previous sat on the floor. " _That section's finished…. Intoxiquer-San will be pleased by this…._ "

Kiri then frowned, somewhat annoyed at the kids who did this mess. " _Why would they put Rising Storm with the graphical novels? It's obviously a manga….."_ she thought bitterly, crossing her arms. " _These kids are obviously up to no yoi….they even put Planes of Existence, which is obviously a graphical novel, in the manga section! I'm gonna get those bakas…!"_

A sudden noise of the bell going off caught Kiri's attention, and she turned her attention to the door, where she saw Jack, Sam and the two kids from yesterday come into the shop. Kiri saw that both Jack and Sam had serious expressions on their faces, while the Kirlia and the Prinplup had somewhat confused and surprised ones.

Taken aback by the sudden appearance of the four, Kiri goes to turn off the music player, which is behind and under the counter. Once off, she turns her attention to the four, mostly Jack and Sam.

"Jack-chan? Sam-kun?" Kiri questioned, inquisitively to them as she cocked her head slightly with a frown. "What are you ni doing here? Aren't you ni supposed to be at worked?"

"'hat's true but something came up…." Jack replied seriously, walking towards the backroom of the bookshop, which is currently closed off with a red door. "…..we need to see the book about them….to Lucy and Alastor….."

With Sam following the large Luxio but leaving Lucy and Alastor at the entrance of the shop with dumbfounded faces, Kiri frowned, confused at the fact that the two wanted see that book. She turned to look at the Angelo siblings, who still look dumbfounded (IT DID SAY EARILER).

"Ha~a~tsu?" Kiri goes, getting even more confused at what's happening. "These ni are Seers?" Jumping back in surprise, Alastor blinked whilst muddled at the currently situations that he and Lucy are in.

"'Seers'?! What the heck are those?!" he demanded somewhat angrily, having no idea what's happening. "And why are we in this book shop?!"

"WE'LL GET TO THAT INTO A BIT!" Sam snapped in an annoyed and angry tone of voice at Alastor, who eeped and hid behind his sister, who was also scared by the Poochyena's sudden mood. Sam then sighed, and then glanced round as Jack entered the back of the shop.

"Only the Kirlia can see... She saw and was attacked by a Corruptor yesterday and heard Jack's voice before she fell asleep….! Grr…..those two put two and two together and found Jack to want answers!"

" _Don't talk to them like they're a pair of gimps!"_ Jack's voice called, from the other room. Sam rolled his eyes and continued to explain. "So, yeah…we're here to show them answers….Well, Jack wants to give. Also, they learned the name of the Corrupted thanks to your brother, who KNOWS TO KEEP THAT SUBJECT A SECRET BUT BLABBED ANYWAY!"

As Sam stomped off in the backroom furiously, steaming at the fact that Shinrin did that, Kiri sighed whilst poking her forehead. "Oh Shinrin….you loveable baka…. What have you done…..?" she questioned to herself. Shaking that thought out of her head, Kiri stopped poking her head and turned to the Angelo siblings, gesturing towards the red door with a hesitant smile on face.

"Go ahead….I guess…?" Kiri said somewhat uncertain on what's happening. Lucy and Alastor nodded, heading into the backroom of Intoxiquer's bookshop.

Once they got into the backroom, all they can tell from it compared to the front of the shop is that it's rather…plain! (IT'S LIKE THAT THE AUTHOR SWEARS)

The backroom seems to be a living area, split into two sections. The first section seems to be a combination between a living room and a kitchen. The living room part of the first section has a small oak table in the middle with several copies of newspapers on it whilst four purple pillows surrounding the table. A small window can be seen on the far wall at the back. Speaking of the walls, something off about them.

"Hmm?" Lucy went, staring at the walls with some uncertainty at what she's looking at. "Even though the walls are just a plain cream, why is there splats of purple pain there? It looks like someone has tried to paint but gave up…!"

The kitchen area, though small, has a decently sized over and a couple of cupboards to store food and bowls and/or plates. A small cooking top is placed to the right way, with a fridge next to it.

The second section of the shop's backroom is to the left and expected for a bookshop, several books in different books are placed, filling up the second section mostly apart from a pathway to what appears the entrance to the stairs and a bookshelf at the back, supporting large books.

Currently, Jack and Sam are near the book filled side of the backroom, with Intoxiquer slightly above them and talking about something with the Luxio and the Poochyena.

"Eh?" Intoxiquer started, somewhat bewildered by what Jack and Sam had said to him. "You want to see the Guild's book on the Corrupted? Why? You two know plenty enough about them? Did you two hit your heads or something?"

Jack noticed that Lucy and Alastor are in the backroom as well, perplexed on what they doing here, and then pointed at them (surprising the two when Jack did that.) with a serious frown on her face.

"'hat Kirlia is a Seer, like us. The feek and her brother were attacked by a Corruptor last night…they want answers and the Kirlia heard me before she fell unconscious…. I feel…..like I owe it to them…."

The Crobat nodded, seemingly agree with what Jack had said though has a frown on his face. "Well, I can't say much about it, but you getting spotted….well, 'heard' by an outsider of the Guild….you know what will happen next….."

Jack bobbed her head, looking sad. "Aye….meeting with the Guildmaster….." she affirmed, feeling rather guilty. Intoxiquer did nothing for a moment, sighed in annoyance, and then flew off upstairs, to find something presuming.

With the Crobat gone, Jack and Sam went over to the living room area. Jack continued to head over whilst Sam stopped, to look at the Angelo siblings with a half-serious frown on his face.

"What are you wait for, you city dolts, someone to come and take you to your seats?!" he rhetorically asked at the two. Alastor scowled as he went to take a seat on one of the pillows as Jack moved the newspapers. Lucy, coming over to the small, scowled as well at Sam's rude behaviour.

"You know, you don't have to speak like that to us!" Lucy scolded rather sharply at Sam, who simply chuckled as he sat down on the pillow closest to the kitchen area, with Alastor to his left and Jack at the back.

"I speak the way I want to, thank you very much!" he smirked confidently back at Lucy, extremely arrogantly as he cocked his head. "Meaning? I can talk whatever crap I want at anyone! Be thankful that I'm actually polite at you, you idiot!"

"DON'T TALK TO MY SISTER LIKE THAT!" Alastor yelled at the Poochyena furiously, angry that someone spoke that insult to his sister.

"I DO WHAT I DAMN LIKE!" Sam snapped back angrily. Suddenly, a yellow glint in Jack's eyes appeared as she glared at Sam for being rude. Sam's ears went down as he shivered in fright. Both Alastor and Lucy are taken aback by this, with fear running through their veins.

" _This must be Jack's Ability…..Intimidate…."_ Lucy thought to herself as she paled with fear and feeling her attack lowed. With nothing much to say, the young Kirlia then sat down on the pillow opposite to her brother, waiting for the Crobat to come back.

Without even a second after Lucy sat down, a sudden sound of furiously flapping wings was heard and then Intoxiquer appeared, carrying a large, brown book in his little claw like feet.

"Go wild…." Intoxiquer remarked, slamming the book down onto the table and then he went to flew over to the kitchen area to hang side down. "I'm just gonna nap over here….. None of you shout please, I need to catch up on my sleep…..ESPECIALLY YOU ENRAGEMENT PENGUIN!"

As Alastor growled to himself over that nickname, Jack put two paws onto the table, looking at the Angelo siblings. "Before we start, I got a question for yer….'ave you two 'eard of something called the 'Plasma Event'?"

Lucy shook her head, frowning slightly. "No, I haven't. I don't think Alastor knows that either….." she affirmed, unsure of where this is going.

"Considering how you two are younger than us and thus in a different year of school, I don't blame for not hearing about it….." Sam started, closing his eyes to think wistfully. "Consider the fact that they don't teach that event in history until Jack's year, it's normal that you wouldn't know….."

Both Lucy and Alastor are taken aback by this. This is the most polite thing that Sam has said to them! The said Poochyena said somewhat serenely, opening his eyes. "I guess I outta explain it to you, what the 'Plasma Event' is."

Sam breathed in and then out, and then started to explain clearly. "The Plasma Event happened around 1,000 years ago and is suspected to the cause of our world today, with the humans gone and the Legends' disappearance all those years ago….

According to documents made by Pokémon when the Plasma Event happened, the cause of the event was a battle between a human trainer and his Pokémon against a team of humans by the name of Team Plasma.

It was said that N, the leader of Team Plasma, wanted to create a world for Pokémon separated away from humans. He was backed by the Legendary Pokémon of Ideals, Zekrom, whilst the human trainer themselves had the Legendary Pokémon of Truth, Reshiram.

A great battle commenced between them, to see who was superior. But, in the end, N won."

"What happened then?" Alastor questioned, interested to see where this tale will head to. Sam nodded, trying to remember the tale of the Plasma Event.

"Well, what happened next was something world changing…." Sam replied wistfully, continuing the explanation. "Since the trainer lost, Reshiram deemed them unworthy of her power, and joined N's side. With the spiritual energy power of Zekrom and Reshiram by his side, N split apart the world of humans and the world of Pokémon, sending each side into their own world both physical and spiritual to never be joined again!

It was catastrophic! Regions shattered into new ones, technology and religion split apart as the spiritual and physical realms became two! Anarchy was abrupt in the new world before democracy and civilization was created a few decades after the Plasma Event! It would had settled down sooner if the Legends had been around to sort everything out….."

Lucy nodded, agreeing to this. "But because of the Plasma Event, the Legends disappeared…." She realized sadly, logically thinking about it.

"Aye, 'hat's what happened." Jack commented, with a small frown. "But there's theories why they disappeared, right Sam?"

"Indeed." Sam stated seriously, looking up into the air. "Zekrom and Reshiram were part of a trio, with the Legendary Pokémon of Balance, Kyurem as the third part of the trio. Many scientists and religious leaders agree on that because Zekrom and Reshiram was splitting the world into two, because of Kyurem's presence in the united world, N accidently made three worlds instead of two!

The ideal world, where we live is the first world. The truthful world, where the humans live in is the second world. And finally, the world without truth nor ideals which was intended, is the third world where the Legends are….well, that's only a speculation….a theory…."

Lucy nodded once more, but frowns with uncertainty. "But, what does have to do with that monster that attacked me last night?" she asked with a muddled face, wondering why the subject was changed from the monster to this.

"After the Plasma Event and the world was split into two, it created sometings 'hat didn't exist before…." Jack answered seriously, to Lucy. "And one of them being the Corrupted."

"But what is the 'Corrupted'?" Alastor wanted to know as he questioned that. "And how come Lucy can see them?"

"To answer the second question first….Lucy saw the Corrupted because like us, she's a Seer." Sam responded honestly and somewhat politely. He opened the book on the table, which the page that Sam turned to had images of Pokémon on there, except they were ghastly white and looked more monstrous and terrifying. "As for the first question second….. The Corrupted are ghosts."

Lucy gasped in horror, as she covered her mouth while her eyes dilated in horror, paling. Alastor, on the overhand, is gobsmacked, blinking several times as he struggles to take in the information that he was just told.

Then Sam turned to the screen, addressing the readers of this story. "If you had already guess that the Corrupted are ghosts before this chapter, congratulations!" Sam stated cheekily, grinning as he knew he was breaking the fourth wall. "Give yourself a pat on the back, or a gold star!"

"Sam, stop breaking the fourth wall, ya gimp!" Jack chastised harshly. "We need to get on with the plot of the story!"

"W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-what….?" Lucy stuttered, unable to comprehend on what's happening. "I…..I…..b-b-been a-a-able…. to s-see…. g-ghosts…..?"

"The Corrupted were born after the Plasma Event, and it's a secret to our modern world." Sam stated seriously once again, starting to explain again. "Nobody in the Seer community knows why they appeared after the Plasma Event as they did not exist before, but they are here, in our world

Now, the next two questions you might be wonder are, one: 'What are the Corrupted?' and the second is 'Why is it a secret?'"

"To answer yer first question, first and foremost, the Corrupted are ghosts." Jack quickly interrupted, sighing since she was stating the obvious. "They are corrupted, monstrous, lost spirits in our world and they lie on the balance of the spiritual plane. Think like they are an combination of 'hose white creatures from 'hat game...what's it called...? 'Kingdom of Hearts'? And 'hat manga's monsters, Bleach... Anyway, 'hat's what they are in our world and 'hats the truth….."

"As for the second question….." Sam went, interrupting Jack before she could try and explain more. "The Corrupted are a secret because they are ghosts in limbo, monstrous souls of those who have past but unable to get to the afterlife. When a Pokémon soul becomes a Corruptor, it basically becomes a corrupted version of what they were like in life. For example, the sweetest Pokémon you know can become a terrible, vile creature that only wants to harm others in the darkest of ways, like ripping and murdering the living for example! Who would want to see their love ones become that?! It would cause a worldwide panic if the knowledge of the Corrupted were to come out! But, thanks to the Seers community, the secret of the Corrupted has been hidden away from the public for more than 900 years…."

Alastor slammed down on the table, furious. "But that doesn't explain why Lucy is able to SEE THEM!" He exclaimed angrily, as his sister remained mute as the horror of what attacked her last night dawned on her.

"Because she has Seer's blood, you dolt!" Sam snapped at Alastor angrily. "In our world, creatures exist with spiritual energy, which some can only been seen with Seer's blood! Phantoms, spectres and the Corrupted can only be seen by a Pokémon with Seer's blood! The majority of the populations of our world doesn't have Seer's blood flowing through their veins, thus they can't see the Corrupted and is kept a secret from them! Somehow, in the past, your sister got Seer's blood in her body and **you** didn't! That's how she's able to see the Corrupted!"

"Did, per chance, get a blood transfusion when ya 'ere younger?" Jack inquired to Lucy, somewhat inquisitive. Lucy, finally getting her voice back, nodded.

"Y-y-yes….." she admitted, still stuttering nervously of the new information given to her. "…..I-I-I-I….g-got i-i-into an a-accident w-when I-I w-was t-two….I g-got a-a b-blood transfusion f-f-from m-m-my d-dad…."

Jack nodded, thinking deeply. Sam took this to explain even further, to get into the plot more. "…..There are two ways to obtain Seer's blood, and you, Lucy, had the most common of all ways….." Sam remarked calmly. "….Blood transfusion from a Seer into a non-Seer is the most common way to obtain the spiritual blood. It can't be passed down from mother or father to child through birth, so a transfusion of blood is necessary….."

"Wait…." Alastor went, going pale as he suddenly realized something. "….if Lucy got blood from our dad and she's a Seer because of it….does that mean that our dad is a Seer too?!"

Both Jack and Sam nodded, saying nothing but their nods to confirm this. "NO!" Lucy screamed, shaking in fear and anger at the prospect of this. "IT'S….NOT POSSIBLE!"

Jack scowled seriously, and pulled out the pill that she borrowed from Lucy yesterday. "I did some research on yer hallucination tablet of yas…." She affirmed, seriously. "…..Lucy, ya don't suffer from hallucinations….what ya really been seeing is ghosts. And methinks that both ya parents 'ave known this for a long time…."

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!" Lucy screeched at Jack, psychic energy begin to glow around her as she caused the book to slam shut. Intoxiquer, awoken from the shouting, did nothing as he hanged from the ceiling. He simply watched the scene unfolded.

"This tablet is only used by Pokémon that are Seers or have the knowledge of the existence of ghosts and Corrupted!" Sam retorted at Lucy, glaring at her. "Ergo, since your parents know the existence of the tablet to treat your condition, they know what it does! IT STOPS YOU SEEING THEM! YOUR PARENTS HAVE BEEN LYING TO YOU ON WHAT THIS TABLET DOES!"

"No….." Lucy went, backing off a little as she paled fifty shades light. She then grabbed her head as she began to shake violently. "No…NononononononononononononononononoNONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!"

Suddenly, several objects begin to float around in the area, including the book and the newspapers. Jack, Sam and Alastor jump out of their seats as Lucy begins to have a meltdown, tears flowing from her eyes.

" **MATTA!** " someone called out, catching everyone off guard, even Lucy, who pauses her meltdown though the tears are still running. Everyone turns to the entrance to the backroom, where Kiri is standing there, looking panicky.

"Gomen'nasai, Intoxiquer-San and everyone!" Kiri apologised sincerely, slightly out of breath. "But I got news from Ignatius-Dono….."

"What is it, Kiri?" Intoxqiuer asked, concerned for his employee. Kiri took a deep breath to regain it, then spoke.

"There's…..a problem at Fougueux Ville's hotel….." she replied seriously and nervously. "There's a massive horde of yellow Corruptors attacking!"

* * *

**To be continued....  
**


	11. Attack on the hotel (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After learning the truth about her condition, Lucy and Alastor rush to the hotel along with Jack, Sam, Kiri and Intoxiquer rush to the town's hotel, where thigns are extremely dire...

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 10:**

**Attack on the hotel (Part 2)**

* * *

**16 hours until the death of Amos...**

* * *

Anarchy was in the air. Lucy could feel it as she heard the news from Kiri. Fougueux Ville's hotel is being attacked by Corruptors? She felt cold at the fact….her mother is at the hotel! SHE'S IN DANGER FOR GOODNESS SAKE!

The rush to the hotel was surreal as well. Lucy can't remember anything else until they stopped there, apart from a pounding headache, a cold, dreaded feeling in her heart worrying about the safety of her mother and the revelation of her parents lying to her about her condition. Plus the fact that Jack was literally dragging a screaming Alastor all the way there with her tail, with the poor Prinplup demanding to let him go.

By the time that the group, consisting of herself, Alastor, Jack and Intoxiquer, got to the hotel, the emergency services had already got there, with ambulances attending the rescued residents and the fire fighters trying to combat some blazes that have spawned within the 11-story light brown building. Sam and Kiri has dashed off somewhere, apparently Sam needing his cross as he had forgot it.

Lucy huffed and puffed as she got near the parameter of the hotel, bending over to catch her breath. Taking in the surroundings, Lucy saw the rescue services are helping people from the entrance of the hotel, with an Emboar helping an injured Stantler way from the shattered glass of the entrance way down the marble steps.

Gaining her breath, she noticed that the fire engines have been parked next to the small swimming pool, which is blocked off at the moment due to the said vehicles blocking off the view. Meanwhile, the ambulances are parked opposite the fire engines. Everything seems panicky in the courtyard of the hotel.

Regaining her senses, Lucy saw Jack, who had her bag with her, Intoxiquer and a very panicky-looking Alastor talking to a male Meowstic who is holding a cane, with a small cross hanging off of it, in the middle of courtyard. Swallowing some air, she quickly darts over to them.

"…..your father, Charlotte and Peter are currently in the hotel, fighting off the yellow Corrupted, Jack…" the Meowstic commented seriously to the said Luxio as Lucy came in closer. "It's a good thing that you turned up straight away. I should had expected Sam to have forgotten his cross…."

"Aye." Jack agreed solemnly, looking up to the hotel, where dark flames blaze. She then noticed that Lucy had come over to their little group, with a mixed expression of fear and confusion on her face, shaking with agitation. Before Lucy could say anything, a loud but small explosion from the hotel was heard, catching everyone off guard as the ground shook from it. After the shaking subsided, more flames appeared, blacker than before the explosion.

"W-w-w-what's going on….? I-i-i-is i-i-it…..t-those m-monsters….?" Lucy managed to stammer her words badly, shaken up from the explosion. Both Jack and the male Meowstic glance at her then looked at each other with serious faces.

"So, this is the Kirlia you told me about a couple of days back…." The Meowstic remarked wistfully, sighing a little with a frown. "Guess you and I need that talk, don't we, Jacqueline?"

Jack tensed up with that question, looking away nervously in shame. "Aye, we do…..Guildmaster Amos…" she replied bitterly, look sheepish. Amos sighed and gain a small smile on his face.

"Don't worry about it too much, Jack…." He started with a peaceful tone in his voice. "At the current moment, we should be focusing on the yellow Corruptors running rampant in this hotel amok. Besides….if what you speak of this Kirlia is true, her finding about the Corrupted was going to happen sooner or later…"

Amos turned to Lucy, who had a half-annoyed half-frown on her face due to the Meowstic's comments about, treating her like she was some kind unimportant character.

"Greetings, young lady. I am Amos Lettigo, the Guildmaster of all Seers that fight the Corrupted in this town." Amos politely introduced himself calmly, doing a little bow whilst holding the cane. Lucy quickly looked round anxiously, seeing Intoxiquer trying to calm down Alastor.

"H-h-hello…. I'm Lucina Angelo…." Lucy replied, feeling uneasy as the black smoke continues to rage from the hotel. For a brief second, Lucy swore that she saw Amos becoming surprised when she mentioned her name, but he quickly composed himself and nodded.

"Please to meet you, Miss Angelo." Amos stated sincerely, becoming somewhat serious as he glanced over the hotel. "As what my dear friend Intoxiquer Kōmori has gotten from your panic-stricken brother of yours, your parents might be still in the hotel."

Amos cocked his head to one side, thinking whilst moving one of his paws like if he was writing something out on a notepad. "No, they're defiantly in the hotel. Not a single Empoleon nor Gardevoir has come out of the hotel yet. According to the staff, which I asked, they're the only ones of their species to check into the hotel recently….

Both of them check in with a Kirlia and a Prinplup, which the two weren't seen when this incident broke out. Furthermore, the Gardevoir was seen checking in much earlier today with the Empoleon, who checked out a little while later on, and back in half an hour before the incident broke out…."

"H-h-how….did you get that information….?" Lucy questioned, feeling unsettled as many more questions flowed through her mind.

"What I can tell you now is that I used to be a detective, and remembering such details is a habit of mine…." Amos replied seriously, frowning a little. "However, any further information on how I got that info is not needed at the moment. We got other things to think about…."

"YEAH!" Alastor shouted angrily, coming over with a frustrated look, with Intoxiquer turning round with an expression of _'I can't be bothered to deal with this at the moment_ ' look on his face. "OUR PARENTS ARE IN THERE, POSSIBLY BEING ATTACKED BY THESE MONSTERS THAT I CAN'T SEE AND HAVE A RUBBISH NAME!"

" _No ship, Sherlock…._ " Intoxiquer muttered to himself bitterly, flying off to go help out with the ambulance crew.

"I am fully aware of that, Mr Angelo." Amos affirmed rather calmly to Alastor, who still furious at what's happening. "I've got a plan on getting your parents out of there, but it requires both you and your sister's assistance."

Lucy gritted her teeth as she scowled a little at how calm Amos is at the current moment, considering on what's going on. "….W-w-w-what d-do you have….p-plan?" she asked, still nervous and scared.

"To put it simple, you two, Jack and Sam, once he gets back here with Kiri, are going to head into the hotel to rescue your parents." Amos responded, simply, holding tightly onto his cane. "Intoxiquer, Kiri and I will stay out here to prevent any yellow Corruptors attacking the public."

"WHAT?!" Alastor roared out furiously, flippers tensing as he waved them up and down in anger. "YOU EXPECT US TO GO INTO THE HOTEL WITH THOSE THINGS ATTACKING EVERYONE?! CAN'T YOU OR THAT FIRST TEAM OF YOURS BLEEDING FIND THEM!? YOU ARE A PSYCHIC TYPE AFTER ALL!"

Amos cocked his head slight to the left, frowning. "That's not possible, I'm afraid. Sorry about that…." He apologized sincerely. "Normally, I would be able to communicate with the team with my powers, but something interfering with the signal of my powers…. I can't reach them. All I hear is Corruptor activity, when I should be hearing that and anyone else within the hotel. I can't pinpoint where the first team or your parents are in the hotel, AT ALL!"

Amos stomped his cane onto the floor, in frustration. "I'm really sorry about that. Normally, I won't even consider a powerless Seer and a non-Seer heading into this sort of situation, but I have no choice…. I'm so useless…."

Jack shook her head. "Don't be yaself, Guildmaster!" She expressed firmly, looking serious. "Ya 'ave no other option, do ya? Don't feel gammy about it, me and Sam will make sure take care of these shams of mine in the hotel!"

With that, Jack takes off her bag and begins to rummage round for something, Amos became a little sullen, thinking about something. "Speaking of Sam, where is he and Kiri?"

With that, Amos noticed Sam, who now has his cross, and Kiri running towards the gate of the hotel. Amos was about to say something at Sam, probably something about him misplacing his cross again, when suddenly the air went extremely heavy.

Jack's head snapped up instantly when the air became heavy, eyes dilated and Sam and Kiri instantly stop in their tracks when they feel the heavy air as well. Lucy begins to shake in fear, remembering the feeling when Bonecruncher appeared. It's like a heavy pressure of killing intent suddenly compression onto you.

Lucy glances over to Alastor, who has taken a few steps back. He must have felt it as well….! Shaking with fear, Lucy looks over towards the entrance, where a ghastly white Medicham has appeared, staring blankly at Lucy and the rest of the group.

Like with Bonecruncher before, this Medicham is larger than a regular one. Covered in monstrous spikes and having a yellow stripe across its mask-like face, black and white eyes and irises, the Medicham drools black slime from its mouth as its eyes stare blankly and intently as Lucy, like it's about to pounce at her. The number 5 is placed under its left eye. However, that's not all that is freaky about it.

A third arm is coming out of the back its head, swing violently in the air, covered in what appears to be blood. The blood-like substance drips slowly down the corrupted Medicham's body, flowing down slowly as the air seems to get heavier by the second.

"…Fresh….MEAT…." the Medicham groans hoarsely, beginning to hobble slowly towards Lucy and Alastor, who the former steps back in fear, eyes dilating as the monstrous Medicham inches closer.

" _I…..can't…do anything….! Why….is my body acting like…this?"_ Lucy thinks to herself, frozen in fear as the ghastly Medicham continues to move forward.

Suddenly, a loud slicing noise was heard in the air, and Lucy saw that Amos had disappeared from, beside her and Alastor, where he is currently standing to behind the ghastly Medicham, facing towards Sam and Kiri.

What is most surprising is that he's now hold a sword, which appears similar to a fencing sword, in his right hand whilst holding the sheath in his right, and is putting away the sword quickly. Lucy gasped a little, as she realized that the sword is actually the cane Amos had earlier!

"….Imploding Arrow Notch Slash…." Amos called out calmly, putting the sword away. Suddenly, the ghastly Medicham freezes for a few seconds, and promptly imploded on itself, leaving nothing but its mask to fall onto the ground.

With Lucy and Alastor, though he didn't see the Corruptor, standing there in shock, Sam and Kiri dash over to Jack, to talk on what the plan is. In the meantime, Amos brushed himself off and walked over to the Corruptor's remains, the mask.

"W-w-w-what are you…..?" Lucy questioned, completely shocked on what she saw. Amos studied the mask intently and then threw it over to Lucy, who almost dropped the mask but managed to catch it.

"Well, that is simply, dear Miss Angelo. It also applies to the group that's currently here, well apart from you and your brother." Amos smirked confidently, holding his cane over his right shoulder.

"I am the head of the Exorcist Guild here in Fougueux Ville. We're Exorcists, to put it simply!"

Lucy and Alastor blink, their jaws dropped in shock by this revelation. Meanwhile in the background, you could had heard Intoxiquer yell out: "NO SHIP SHERLOCK!"

* * *

T̮̘͎̰̲͙ **H̴̛̪̪̭̬͎̞̯͢E͏̭̠̲̪̮͡Y̫͈͞͡ͅ ͙̤̰̖̬͚̫W҉͚̻͓̱̺̳͢ͅI̻͔͡͠L͙̠͢L̦͍͇ ̫͇̼A͉̹̕͠L͕͘L̛̻̰̣͉͜ ͓̜̤̻̻̥́S̼E̡̛͖̖͕͖͍̯͟È̗̼͓̪ͅ** **  
** **͝͏͈̝͎̕T̴͓̥̞͕Ḥ̘̟͙͈̟̪̬͟ͅE̬̥̩̲̬̫̗Y̡̰͍͝ ̢͈̬̘͕̤͎͈̰W̛̺͇̩I͚̖̮L̵͇̳ͅḶ̶̶̱͚̕ ̧̝̻͟R͡҉̦̦͈̝͟ͅͅE̸̢͈͕͝G̵̱̖̙̝̦̻͚̖͡R̵̰̱̹̱̰͞ͅE͚͘Ṱ̩̘̖̭̗̳̦̖́͡ ̨̩̹̫͎̗̠̻M̷̨̱̤̪̜O̠͙C̶̭̬̼̜͜Ḵ̛̣̲͓̣̮̲̮̺͠I̢͝͏̗̭̪Ń̛̘͎͚͖̙͇̥͘G̲̩̩̠͜ ̡̧͖̺̠̯M̶͚̫̬̺͠E̸͇̼͎̱̠͇͓̤** **  
** **̷̱͔I͏͕̫̙̭̩̭ ҉͟҉͈͇A̸̜̗̜̫M̳͓̖͈ ̴̠̰͎̱͎͜D͈̪ͅE̫̣͕̯̪̫͡N̹̦͎͖̰I͙̹̝͖̟̯̙͘Ḁ̜̙̳̱ͅL̸̨͕̟̩͍̫̹̪**

* * *

**Meanwhile….**

"Upupupupupupu….." Noirshiro laughed to themselves heartily, as destruction rained down on where they are now. "It was certainly a DELICIOUS idea to attack this hotel with the few yellow Corruptors that the boss had lying around! It cause SO MUCH despair amongst the people that it attracts even more! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Seriously, Noirshiro….!" A voice called out behind the unidentified Pokémon, who turns round with a deviously grin. "You got to stop laughing evilly for goodness sake!"

"I can do what I want, Sakura!" Noirshiro snapped at Sakura annoyed. "This much despair is making me FEEL SO GOOD! I feel so HOT inside right now! It pleasures me when I feel despair amongst the Corruptors and the public! IT FEELS SAUCY! I feel SOOOOOOOOO GOOD RIGHT NOW! I feel like I could explode with despair juice!"

"…..No wonder Digby and 'Riles feel uncomfortable near you…." Sakura remarked in disgust, looking away. "…..You're such a perverted weirdo, Noirshiro…."

"BUT ONLY THE BEST! UPUPUPUPUPU!" Noirshiro yelled out triumphantly. "Do ya feel the despair running amongst the hotel? IT'S MAKING ME FEEL SO GOOD! I just want to help towards the despair! But, do you know what would make it better?! Some hope! If there was some hope that was crushed by despair, THEN IT WOULD MAKE THIS SITUTION SO MUCH TASTIER! OOOOHHHH, THAT MAKES ME SO EXCITED!"

"…I can't believe the boss put you in charge of getting the Corruptors for the plan…." Sakura murmured to herself bitterly, not believing that she has to put up with this crap. She sighed with annoyance and then spoke up. "The boss wants to know how much Corruptors you got at the moment."

"Ah, being an little errand frog, are we?" Noirshiro questioned teasingly, cocking their head slightly as they smirked. "Tell the boss that it's going swimmingly! Just send the pickup in half an hour! We got Corruptors FOR DAYS! I think we might have even too much!"

Sakura nodded, writing it on a notepad to remember. "Good. That's will be suffice. I'll make sure that the boss knows and Digby comes over to pack up the Corruptors." She affirmed seriously. With that, Sakura suddenly disappears into the shadows.

Noirshiro grinned once more, and then looked over the edge on where they're standing, seeing the scene with the corrupted Medicham and the main characters from afar. They're on the roof of the hotel after all.

"Oh? Isn't that the Meowstic that the boss is looking for?" Noirshiro questioned to themselves rhetorically, grinning so hard it looks like they're gonna burst into laughter again. "Oh my….this is gonna be .FUN!"

* * *

**Meanwhile, at the Angry Bug Show...**

**Wait a second, wrong fan-fiction….**

* * *

The air was heavy and cold, as Lucy, Alastor, Jack and Sam walked carefully into the ruined entrance hall of the hotel. Everything is completely wrecked, from the almost destroyed check in counter, the chairs smashed against the wall, the rugs complete torn to shreds, the stairway covered in cut marks and a crater against the evaluator door, rending it useless to open.

Alastor shivered in fear as the silence of the hall engulfed them all. Sam stepped forward, scowling to himself as he looked round. "…It's quiet….. too quiet for my liking…. There should be Corruptors nearby, we would hear them…." He expressed seriously, on edge.

"Isn't that good?" Alastor questioned, confused on this. "If these 'Corruptors' aren't here, does that mean that they're gone?"

"'ave ya seen a tree infested with bugs?" Jack replied back rhetorically with a scowl on her face, feeling uncertain to the current situation. "It's like 'hat with the Corruptors if try to exorcize them wan by wan. It's impossible to git rid of them as more would appear…."

"The few only ways to get rid of all of them is to exorcize a lot of them like an extermination…." Sam continued anxiously, taking another step. "Or have a being that's more powerful than them scare them off…. Which could mean here that either Master Firesoul, Charlotte and Peter could had exorcize them or scare them off….But if they're deeper within the hotel, there should be some Corruptors here….!"

"What do mean by 'more powerful'?" Lucy queried, looking nervous around the place for any signs of the Corrupted.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to explain that earlier…." Sam murmured to himself wistfully, double checking to see if any Corruptors about. Satisfied that none are about, he turns to Lucy and Alastor.

"Remember when you saw the Corrupted, they had a number on them?"

"Yes." Lucy affirmed seriously.

"No." Alastor stated rather annoyed, crossing his flippers. Everyone turned to look at Alastor with a dumbfounded look on their faces. Alastor then became flustered, looking even more annoyed than before. "How am I supposed to know that there's a number on them?! I CAN'T SEE THEM FOR GOODNESS SAKE!"

"Anyway…." Sam continued to explain somewhat tiredly, completely ignoring Alastor, which the said Prinplup became even more annoyed to the point of being pissed off. "The numbers on them determine their strength and rarity. Corruptors with the number five on them are the weakest Corruptors, and the most common to appear. Number four Corruptors are uncommon but stronger than number fives, number threes are hard to come by, twos are rare and ones are extremely powerful but almost impossible to find.

"Why do they seem to lessen depending on their number?" Lucy questioned, still confused by such a thing.

"Corruptors 'ave their strength rise when they consume a soul..." Jack explained, looking disgusted as she said it. "Tis can be achieved by either consuming a soul 'hat hasn't become a Corruptor yet, or more commonly, eating another Corruptor…."

Jack grimaced a little in disgust and sadness, but continued. "Ya see, the reason why there are less Corruptors for the numbers like one or two, is 'hat many Corruptors haven't reached 'hat power level yet. They need to put in some pure effort in eating those souls….

I feel sorry for weak Corruptors and any souls 'hat eaten by stronger Corruptors….!"

"What happens to the souls when these 'Corruptors' get exorcized?" Alastor interrogated, still sceptical on the existence of these….things.

Sam shrugged, not sure about this. "Dunno…. I think some researchers at the Guild are trying to figure out what happens to those souls…. Oh yeah, there's one more thing I forgot to explain!"

"Huh?" Lucy and Alastor go in sync, confused by this.

"You remember the colour of the stripe on the Corruptor's mask?" Sam asked once again, calmly.

"Yes." Lucy replied, blinking with confusion.

"No." Alastor replied bluntly and annoyed, with everyone turning to him with a dumbfounded look again. Alastor scowled and face-flipped himself with how annoyed he is at the moment. "WE'VE BEEN OVER THIS JUST EARLIER!"

"Anyway…." The Poochyena went once more simply, ignoring Alastor. "The colour of a Corruptor's stripe depends on their neutrality towards you."

"Neutrality?" Lucy goes curiously, surprised a little as she stepped back a little in the ruined hall. Sam nodded, thinking to himself.

"The colour of a Corruptor's stripe depends on their neutrality and how they react towards other Corruptors, souls and the living." Sam explained thoroughly but simply, gritting his teeth a little with anger. "The ones you've been encountering so far are the yellow Corruptors! They're the evil ones, through and through! They tend to attack anyone to become stronger, and can be very cunning sometimes. Never trust a yellow Corruptor! Though, normally they don't act mindlessly like that corrupted Medicham earlier…..Must have been a new one…."

"Red Corruptors are the good ones!" Jack chimed into cheerfully, as Sam trailed off his explanation to think about something. "They don't usually attack souls or humans, only yellow Corruptors to become stronger! They can be fiercely fun to hang around with, but…. They can be creepy sometimes….and tell dark-humoured jokes whist often….. The reds find 'hat very funny…."

Jack shivered to herself, then continued the explanation, feeling somewhat uneasy due to the ruins. "'hen there's the purple Corruptors! To be perfectly honest, I've only seen a few of them around town wan or two times, because they like to keep to themselves. From what I heard, they're supposed to be neutral…."

"Anyway, enough explanation!" Sam cut in bluntly, beginning to walk towards the stairs. "We need to find your parents and get the heck out of here!"

"You were the one explaining everything, Mr ' _I'll-explain-everything-for-the-sake-of-exposition-and-for-the-plot!_ '" Alastor yelled out angrily at the Poochyena, who was already on the first step. He glanced at Alastor, looking rather irritated.

"Grr…." Sam growled in annoyance, continuing to head up the stage. "Jack, give them the stuff…. I can't be bothered….."

As the rest of the group go to follow Sam up the ruined stairs, Jack passed over two bottles of water to Lucy and Alastor.

"What's this?" Lucy questioned curiously, as she walked up the stairs inspecting the bottle intently.

"Holy Water." Jack stated seriously with a frown. "Ya see, Corruptors are weak against holy magic and black magic. They purely don't like Holy Water, a lot! If ya see a Corruptor whilst in this ruined place, use it on them! It would stun them, and piss them off a little, make them look like a total spanner, but it would give us enough time to destroy them with massive damage!"

Jack grinned cheekily. "Since ya don't 'ave any spiritual powers yet, 'hats the best ya getting at the moment!"

"Great!" Alastor went sarcastically and just plain ruffled at the moment. "First I'm told of these monsters that I can't see, my parents are in the hotel getting attacked by said monsters, handed this bottle of water to defend myself and THEN told that I'm weak! Today is a great day!"

* * *

**A little while later…**

* * *

The group walked through the darkened and ruined corridor in silence, on alert for any Corruptors. Lucy, holding the bottle of Holy Water close to her while her eyes dart around for movement in paranoia. The ruined corridor is putting her on edge, with the lights broken and the glass across the floor.

Lucy directed her course around the broken glass, and noticed bloodied claw marks on the wall. Gulping nervously, she continues to walk. Lucy feels the cold, dank air surrounding her, engulfing her like an explosion would to trees. She shivers in fright, as multiply blood stains cover the wall, gain a short of breath as she breathed in and out quickly and nervously.

Lucy turned to see her brother, who looked even more on edge than before the group entered the corridor. No wonder he's nervous at the moment, he's in a corridor that could be filled with terrible monsters that are out for him that he can't see! Alastor is holding the bottle of Holy Water close to his chest. Not even pride can make him feel safe now.

Jack and Sam on the other hand, look almost perfectly fine. Jack looked skittishly round the corridor, occasionally stopping to get round some broken glass with difficult. Due to her being a larger size for a Luxio, she must have less room to move around objects than normal Luxios. Jack occasionally goes to touch her cross every time an unexpected noise happens, but let's go when it's just noise from the building stalling in from all the damage.

Sam follows behind the two Anglo siblings, to make sure no Corruptor sneaks up on them, while Jack leads at the front with a torch. Sam has a determined expression on his face, serious to take down any Corruptor. He remains silent, so he focus on the task at hand. He does occasionally look round the silent, heavy-aired corridor, the shadows creeping up on them.

"Hey…." Jack started, looking round the place. The group looks round to see that they're near a stairwell. Jack turned round to look at Lucy and Alastor with a concerned expression. "I think we need take a wee break. Yer two pure needs it now! Ya look like ya gonna faint any second!"

"I agree…." Sam murmured to himself, sitting down on the floor. "We don't need you two to faint now. It could be trouble for us if any Corruptors were to come while you're unconscious! We're taking a five minute break, everyone!"

With that, the group sat down against the wall, taking a breather. Lucy sighed as she tried to catch her breath while trying to feel calm at the same time. Due to where she is now, it's not a surprise that isn't gonna happen any time soon.

Sighing once more and look at the ceiling for a breath second, she noticed Sam deep in thought about something, holding his cross hard.

"Sam, what's the matter?" Lucy asked to the said Poochyena, concerned for him. Sam scowled, not in anger but in uncertainty.

"It's….something that Kiri said to me earlier when we were running towards the hotel after getting my cross….." Sam started carefully, feeling unsettled by the corridor, eyes somewhat dilated.

"What is it?" Jack questioned, feeling rather oddly where Sam was going.

"She told me that the hotel was infested with level five Corruptors…." Sam continued, grimacing nervously as he told what he had been told. "….Heck, she told me where in the hotel where they're most likely to gather! Corridors where we are now…."

Alastor flinched when Sam said this, looking nervous as Lucy paled a little.

"….should be brimming with level five Corruptors! I can get that Ignatius, Charlotte and Peter together can exorcize a lot of them, but even they would be over-run with the amount of Corruptors that Kiri described to me!"

"So….the question here you're trying to make us realise is…." Lucy caught on softly, realizing it as well. "…..'Where are they?'"

"'hat corrupted Medicham earlier still indicates 'hat there's still some about! Grand, but what ya said is right, Sam! This is savagely bad…." Jack agreed anxiously, looking round to see for any sign of the Corrupted.

"What room were you staying in again?" Sam asked Lucy seriously. "Because what ever happened to the Corrupted might had done something with your parents…."

"N-no!" Lucy cried out, desperately as she realized this. "My d-d-dad is strong! He protects me f-from anything! H-he would ha-"

"Had what?" Jack rhetorically asked bitterly, glaring at Lucy angrily. "Had done something to stop this?! Your father lied to you about your condition, saying it was some damn hallucination when you've been actually a SEER for an extremely long time! Those tablets can't be obtained by the general public! That means that your father knows about the Seer community since he was able to obtain them!"

Lucy was about to retort when Sam stomped up to her glaring angrily, causing her to meep a little. "Trust me on this when I say it! Pokémon who lie to you for something as bad you've been in can't be trusted, ever! The last Pokémon who did that to me caused a scar on Jack's eye! Your father is a pathetic man who can't even tell the BLEEDING TRUTH ON WHAT YOU'VE BEEN SUFFERING FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS!"

With that, Sam angrily stomped off to the stairwell, leaving everyone silent in shock. Blinking, Jack's face soon turned extremely furious, snarling even.

"SAM!" She shouted out angrily, running after him. "YER BEING AN ASSHOLE, YOU ROTTEN PRICK! GET BACK HERE!"

Lucy stood there in shock, trying to process what Sam had said, mind racing as she thought about it. It was true that her father did hid it from her, but he must have had a good reason why, right? That's one of the thoughts that Lucy has at the moment. She KNOWS that her dad loves her, and anything secret that he must have been hiding must have been done out of love, right?

Suddenly, Lucy felt something on her shoulder. Feeling panicky, she turns to see that it's Alastor, holding out a flipper on her shoulder, looking worried for his sister.

"Whatever Dad's hiding, it must have been for a good reason." He stated, seriously but with a worried tone in his voice. "We know Dad, he loves us! Don't let that stupid Poochyena get to you, he hardly knows out Dad!"

Lucy nodded slowly, thinking about it. She smiles somewhat sincerely, with the hint of doubt in her smile. "You're….right." she said somewhat reluctantly. "We….need to find Room 25, quickly…..And get out of here….."

Lucy took a deep breath in and out, and gain a determined look on her face. "Then, we'll get answer about my 'condition', Alastor. I want to know the truth!"

"Hehehe!" Alastor went, grinning confidently as he took his flipper off Lucy. "Look at you being so confident! I rather like that!"

Lucy chuckled a little, feeling better from Alastor's words. It made her feel….more confident, if you know what I mean.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL IS THIS?!" a scream called loudly and almost terrified, like the owner of the voice had stumbled upon something terrible. Lucy and Alastor snap towards the stairwell in shock, where the scream had come from.

"That…." Alastor began, disturbed by the scream as he shakes a little like a leaf on a tree in a calm breeze. The colour of his face seems to pale a little. "….sounds like Sam! What the heck is he yelling about…?"

Blinking, Lucy shook her head. "I don't know! It must have scared him!" she replied, feeling scared about this.

" **AAARRRGGHHHHH!** " another scream yelled out, horror-stricken by something. This time, it sound rather feminine.

"That sounds like Jack! LET'S GO!" Lucy commanded, feeling fearfully for Jack. With that, both the Angelo siblings dart towards the stair, heading up to the next floor as quickly as they can. It took them a few seconds to get up the stair, due to the darkness.

Once they got up to the floor where they heard Sam and Jack yell from, they find the two young exorcists standing petrified by something. The colour from the two seemed almost drained as they stand horrified by the sight of it. Sam's eyes are dilated in fear, tail between the back of his leg, while Jack has dropped her bag as she begins to back away slowly.

Before Lucy could ask what was causing to yell out like that, she quickly saw what was causing it. Like the other two, her entire body quickly drained of colour, as the image in front of her burned into her memories forever.

Right in front of them, slumped against the blood-splattered wall, was a bloodied Medicham with a spear going right through its chest, blood pouring of the wounds. The Medicham's eyes are white and glossed over, horrified of its terrible end. The words 'LUSTFUL BLOOD' was written next to the corpse, in, as you guess it, even more blood!

Lucy took a step back as Alastor gasped in horror. The said horrified Kirlia took a deep breath, and then….

" **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!** "

* * *

**To be continued...**


	12. The origin of Lucy (Part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the group of four have a grusome discovery, someone in the shadows is watching.....

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 11:**

**The origin of Lucy (Part 3)**

* * *

**14 hours until the death of Amos….**

* * *

" **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"**

That horrified, terrifying, blood-curled scream of his sister and the sight of a corpse leant against the wall and the words 'LUSTFUL BLOOD' written on the wall in, well, blood…. Those three things hand and hand will forever burn in Alastor's memories.

The mentioned Prinplup took a few steps back before falling backwards onto floor, eyes widened in horror at the terrifying sight in front of him.

"Oh….oh…oh….oh...….." Alastor kept repeating, unable to comprehend the sight in front of him. Sam, tail behind his legs, suddenly perked up his ears and then looked round quickly, eyes dilated.

"Oh no…." he went, somewhat frightened as his ears drop. The air suddenly went cold and heavy, as the feeling of when Corruptors appear has returned. "T-that scream of your must have alerted any remaining Corruptors in the area…!"

Jack stepped forward, scowling hard as she look round. "'ow many do ya feel are about?" she questioned to Sam, who closed his eyes.

"I feel….ten? Twenty….? No, sixteen of them, and they're swarming onto this place….!" Sam replied seriously, opening his eyes. "We need to get these two out of here, NOW! There's be a HOARD of them here in a minute!"

"OI!" a voice called out to them in the darkened hallway, and the group see on that right-hand side of the hallway, a Charmeleon has come out of a room, wearing an ice-blue cross around its neck along with a navy blue bandana, while a somewhat chubby Espurr peeped its head out of the doorframe. "GET IN HERE, QUICK, YOU BUGGERS!"

Jack grinned, pleased to see these two Pokémon as she gently moved along a terrified Lucy over to the room, while Sam helped Alastor get up and dash over. "Charlotte, Peter, am I fiercely great to see the two of ya!" she remarked cheerfully, extremely grateful to see these Pokémon.

"Yeah, whatever! JUST GET IN!" The Charmeleon snapped in a panicky. The Espurr said nothing, just dashing into the room as Sam, Lucy, Jack and Alastor pile in the said room in fright of the coming hoard.

The moment that the door was shut, the Espurr pulled out a piece of paper with a series of writing on it and places it on the door. Putting his paws together and closing his eyes, the Espurr begins to chant something in a hard to describe language.

"Ego te repellere… Ego te repellere…" the Espurr chants somewhat calmly with a hint of a Russian accent in his voice. As he continues to chant, the piece of paper begins to glow blue, and green energy starts flowing from the paper. The energy seeped in the door and then gave it a green outline. The outline then started to infect the walls of the room, covering every corner of the room. Once every corner has been filled, it stays there in a somewhat protective way.

"Hmm…." The Espurr goes, sounding calmly, almost blankly. He turns to the Charmeleon with a somewhat tired stare on his face. "The room is sealed again, Charlotte! We should be safe!"

The Charmeleon, known as Charlotte, nodded whilst giving a sincere and heart-warming smile. "You did well, Peter!" she complimented sincerely, rubbing the top of the Espurr, known as Peter, in an affectionate manner. Charlotte then pulled out a small chocolate bar out of seemingly nowhere and gave it to Peter.

"Here you go, Peter! You look very tired and you need some energy to keep doing what you do best, being you!" Charlotte stated simply and happily. Peter said nothing, taking the chocolate bar and dashing off to somewhere in the room, with a small shout of 'thank you!' after a few seconds.

"Well, that was weird." Alastor remarked, rather confused, Sam said nothing, instead heading over to where Peter had disappeared off to. Charlotte chuckled a little, and then turned to the rest of the remaining group.

"Peter's has poor social skills. He doesn't talk to anyone that much, apart from a handful of Pokémon, which I'm one of. He tends to hide himself from strangers…." Charlotte explained seriously, folding her arms. She then smiled again, though some confusion. "Anyway, it's nice to see you again, Jack! And, who are these two?"

With Charlotte pointing at Lucy and Alastor, Jack nodded with a serious frown. "It's a nice to see ya too, Charlotte, though tis situation isn't going as well as I expected… It's all gone to hell and back…." She stated, looking gloomily. "Especially with 'hat corpse out there…Oh yeah, tis is Lucy and Alastor Angelo, by the way."

Charlotte nodded, eyeing up the Angelo siblings. "Please to meet you two! I'm Charlotte Coco, one of the proud owners of ' _Coco Charlie's Chocolates_ '!" she commented cheerfully, holding out her right arm to give a handshake. Alastor went and took it to say hello.

"Hello!" he went somewhat nervously, while Lucy remained silent, still shaken up from what was outside. Charlotte noticed this and frowned.

"Quiet, huh?" Charlotte asked rhetorically, looking concerned for the said Kirlia. "I don't blame you. That body outside caught Peter, Ignatius and I off guard. We managed to rush into this room thanks to an Empoleon and a Gardevoir…."

Taken off guard, Lucy quickly looks round the room that the small group are now inside of. She saw that the room that the four-group have rushed into is actually the hotel room that Lucy and her family were staying in for their holiday!

Before she could dash further into the room, she saw that Alastor was looking at the door with an inquisitive look. He pointed a flipper at the said door, and looked at Charlotte and Jack with some confusion on his face.

"What the heck did that Espurr do to the door?" Alastor questioned bluntly, looking very confused. "All he did in my eyes is slap a piece of paper on this door, then chanted some weird words!"

"Peter, as an Exorcist Seer, he's a Sealer type." Jack described to Alastor, calmly. "I explain in more detail later, but the basic ting is, Peter uses seals to keep Corruptors in or out of tings, like tis room. Since ya cannt see it, the 'hole room to the rest of us 'as green outlines on the corners."

Alastor nodded, still confused about what Peter had done. He then noticed the same thing that Lucy noticed earlier, with the whole room situation.

"Oh man…." Alastor goes, feeling dreadful about the situation. He then walks into the room, and then stopped, looking horrified by something. "HOLY CRAP, DAD! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!"

Lucy, eyes widening in fear, dashed further into the room, stopping at Alastor's side, to see a torn up room. Two of the beds that were in the room are currently on their side, barricading the balcony off from something. The bed sheets are taken off from the bed for some reason. The reason why is going to be explained in a bit.

Everything else seems to be in tatters, with suitcases thrown to the side of the room and another one of the beds on its side. What shocked Lucy the most is the state that her father is in.

Noah is sat on one of the beds, back against the wall, looking in pain. A bunch of bedsheets are wrapped around his right flipper in a sling-like formation, whilst red stains on the bottom of the sling can be seen. Noah looks to be in pain, wincing a little.

Abby and Ignatius are facing each other on opposite sides of the bed, discussing about something whilst Peter is sat by the legs of Ignatius, nomming on the chocolate bar whilst Sam sat opposite, near the bathroom, deep in thought.

When Alastor yelled out, the adults quickly turned their attention towards them whilst Sam and Peter kept continuing on what they were doing, though Sam had quickly glanced over before turning to his thoughts again.

"A-a-alastor! L-l-lucy!" Abby stuttered, startled at the fact that her children are here in the dangerous hotel. She rushed over to embrace the two in a hug.

When Lucy was hugged by her mother, she could feel her sense return back to normal from the warmth of her mother's hug, like everything was going to be okay. The heighten fear and anxiety seemed to disappear from Lucy's chest, like everything she's seen so far was just a simple dream.

However, this is reality, and we get back into the story. Abby comes out of the hug and looks at her children with a muddled expression. "W-w-what are you two doing here? It's dangerous here!"

"We…..came here with Jack and Sam…." Lucy went quietly, feeling somewhat ashamed by her presence here.

Jack went over to Ignatius to confirm the story. "Guildmaster Amos told me and Sam to take them 'ere. We couldn't reach any of yer due to the influx of….well, ya know…." She stated seriously, frowning. She then became nervous, sweating a little. "Um…. Lucy and Alastor….learned about….them. The Corruptors…. I'm sorry…."

"…..There's no need, Jack!" Ignatius remarked cheerfully, pausing before speaking. He then frowned a little, looking a little bewildered. "I guess…. Lucy was going to find out one day, wasn't she?"

"You know about the Corrupted?" Abby questioned, paling at the fact her children have found out.

Lucy nodded, silently while Alastor crossed his flippers. "I know about them, but I haven't seen one! How do I know this is just not an extremely-planned out prank on me?!"

"This…..is no prank, Alastor….ow…" Noah went, catching everyone's attention. It was obvious to hear Noah heavily breathing whilst in pain. "….They're…..real…. I…..got attacked by one earlier…caused this stupid injury…."

"Dad…." Lucy started rather hesitantly, heading over to her father's side on the bed along with Alastor, who looked extremely concerned for their father. "I…..know about the Corruptors….Well, I only learned just earlier…."

"Huh….You're taking the revelation a lot better than….I expect…." Noah confessed, rather surprised by this with his left eye closed. "…..I….ow…..was expecting more of a reaction….."

"She almost 'ad a breakdown earlier! It was something out of a video game!" Jack remarked out loudly, somewhat oblivious to what the feel of the current situation is.

Noah cocked his head slightly to the left. "Welp, I guess….ah, ow…..I…..need to….explain…" he struggled to say, looking very pale. Abby frowned sadly, looking extremely concerned for her husband as she murmured his name. Ignatius placed a hand on Noah's shoulder.

"Don't push yourself, my brother." Ignatius stated seriously, trying to comfit Noah. "That injury of yours is causing you to lose a quite a bit of blood. Try to stay still as you heal. Sam, I need your healing powers over here!"

The said Poochyena nodded, walking over to where Ignatius is standing. He takes his cross off, jumps up onto the bed and places the cross next to Noah. Raising his front paws up into the air, Sam begins to chant something, causing the cross to also float up into the air. Soon, an orb of grey energy encases Noah, as Sam's eyes glows as he continuingly keeps his front paws up in the air.

From what Lucy can see, her father looks better in the orb. Noah, opening his left eye a little, turns to Sam, who stared intently and seriously at him. After a few seconds, Noah begins to talk.

"You're the holder of the Black Cross of Denial?" he questioned, quite surprised by this. Sam nodded, without saying a word. Noah then glanced at Jack, then Charlotte, and then finally Peter, who isn't paying attention at all, still trying to eat the chocolate bar with a little bit of success.

"Anger, Sadness and Bargaining are here as well…. My brother, where is Acceptance?" Noah asked again, frowning a little.

"The holder of the Light Cross of Acceptance is with Amos, our father." Ignatius stated once again seriously, closing his eyes. Alastor, shocked by what Noah and Ignatius, turns to Jack, who is also shocked by this.

"Wait, your dad and my dad are related?! Does that mean we're cousins?" inquired a shocked Alastor. Jack shook her head, frowning.

"Nah, ya spane!" Jack shot back a little harshly. "I'm adopted, remember?"

"Speaking of adoption and the topic at hand, Noah and I are adopted brothers. We were adopted by Amos Lettigo. Though we aren't blood-related, we are brothers regardless. We grew up together." Ignatius explained seriously. He frowns slightly, then turns to Noah. "Though, we haven't seen each other in years! So much so that Noah didn't know I have an adopted daughter nor that did I know that his own daughter could see the Corrupted!

We both know that no Pokémon can be born with the ability to see the dead and the Corrupted, and by the rules of the Exorcist Society in our country dictates that no Pokémon should be able to have this ability unless they are part of the society! So, how did your daughter get this ability, Noah?!"

"….." Noah went, silently as he appears to be deep in thought. Lucy's heartrate begins to increase, becoming nervous as her father is hesitant to speak. Her hands, which is on her chests, begins to shake a little.

"Well…." Noah started, with some delay, looking unsure as he spoke. He looked over to his wife in an unconfident manner. Abby, with a pause, gave a nod to confirm a sort of silent message. Noah then sighed. "…I suppose this was due to happened one day….didn't expect it to be so soon…. Oh well…"

* * *

_**Flashback Start:** _

* * *

_I suppose this situation came to be about eleven years, on that fateful day…._

_It was such a beautiful day, with the weather and all. The forecast was sunny with no cloud and it was somewhat hot, but not too hot. It was a perfect day to go to the beach, or go out into the woods to have a picnic!_

_I was looking after the kids that day. Abby was out at work, a new case had just popped up that urgently needed her help and I happened to have a day off from the museum that day, so I agreed to look after the kids whilst I was at home._

_Alastor was busily drawing something as usually while Lucy was playing with her toys, typical toddler behaviour. I decided to go somewhere out with the kids, to get them outside for some fresh air, so I was getting the pushchair ready out for the walk. I was planning to get them ice cream, for them being such good children!_

… _..That's when it happened. Something that I truly will regret for the rest of my life…._

* * *

" _Urgh….." a younger Noah groaned to himself, as he struggled to move the pushchair around the turning point on the stair where a Pokémon would turn to further go up a small set before being truly upstairs. The pushchair was quite big, since it was able to fit up to two toddler Pokémon._

_Noah tried to turn it one way but it kept hitting the wall. He tried to turn it another way but it was hitting the handrail of the stairs. Frowning, Noah puts a flipper on his chin to think, trying to come up with a solution on how to get it passed this point here…_

" _Hmm…." Noah goes, figuring out an idea. "They're able to be separated from each other, so I could try taking one down at a time…."_

_So, Noah does that, separating one of the pushchairs from the other so they can be moved easier. Noah folds the first pushchairs with some struggle, but manages to fold it. As he goes to do the other pushchair, he notices that it's gone!_

" _Huh?"_

_**THUD!** _

_Surprised, Noah looked down the stairs quickly, where he sees that the pushchair has fallen down, ramming itself into the door. Noah's face soon drains of colour when he sees that his daughter got caught by the fallen pushchair, and is now unconscious at the door, bleeding._

" **LUUUCCCYYY!"**

* * *

_You see, the pushchairs back in those days were…. much heavier, much chunkier than the ones you can get these days. They were big as well, a pain to get them up and down the stairs…._

_I must have accidently pushed the pushchair whilst I was doing the first one, and it fell down the stairs, colliding and injuring Lucy….._

… _..It's all my fault…. It's my fault that my precious daughter, who I dearly love…got injured badly in such a bad way…._

_I…immediately called 999….the emergency services…to come help…._

_I….explained what happened…..Lucy was rushed immediately to hospital, to receive treatment for her injuries…._

_Abby rushed over to the hospital when she heard the news. I….told her what happened and she told me it wasn't my fault it happened…._

_A few hours later, I received a piece of news that I didn't want to hear, but was going to be life changing for my daughter….._

* * *

" _She needs a what?" a younger Abby questioned, looking completely horrified at what the doctor had said to them. Noah sat on the hospital seat with a shocked look on his face, next to an unconscious Lucy, with tubes coming in and out of her._

" _I said that she needs a blood transfusion. She's lost a lot of blood due to that accident of hers." The doctor, who is a Typhlosion, reaffirmed seriously, looking at a chart. "According to our tests, your daughter is a type B positive. Do you know your blood types? We're running low on blood supplies as it is, so if either of you two are B positive, we need your blood to save your daughter's life!"_

_Abby, blinking, quickly turns to look at Noah. She KNOWS that Noah is also B positive, but at the same time, knows that he has Seer's blood. It true that if Noah gives Lucy his blood, it would save her life but at the same time, would make Lucy a Seer as well._

" _Can….we have some time to….think about it?" Noah questioned, curiously. Doctor Typhlosion frowned, but nodded anyway. "I need a response back soon! I don't know what you need think about, you literally need to donate blood to save your own daughter's life, but I'll leave you alone for now…. Contact me when you need me…"_

_The doctor walked off in an annoyed mood, as Abby turned to Noah, concerned. However, Noah had one thing on his mind._

" _I'm going in for the blood transfusion." He stated bluntly and seriously, frowning as he had his flippers put together. "It's the only thing that's going to save her life."_

" _N-n-noah!" Abby blurted out, shocked by this. "I-isn't that illegal by the Exorcist Society's law? That's what you've TOLD me!"_

"… _That's true…." Noah admitted, sighing dishearten. He covered the back of his neck as he looked down at the floor, almost breaking into tears. "It's….all my…fault….That Lucy is in this situation….. I should have been more careful….."_

_Abby remained silent, just going to Noah's side to comfit him. "Shh….it's okay. You didn't know that was going to happen anyway…. Lucy's a quiet child, after all. She sneaks up on everyone all the time, so you wouldn't have heard her near the stairs regardless of her being near there or not….."_

_Noah sighed once more, then nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I'm still going to do the blood transfusion…." Noah stated seriously, cheered up a little more. "I know it's illegal by Exorcist Society's law, but in this case, my means will justify the end result. It will save Lucy's life, but forever scar her as a Seer…."_

" _Yeah…" Abby goes, sadly as she frowned. "….from what you told me, if someone were to get Seer's blood from outside the Exorcist Society, wouldn't they be tormented from the spirits unless they joined the Society?"_

" _Yes, they would. It's for certain that when you get Seer's blood, you have some skills in exorcize such as phantoms or the Corrupted…." Noah confirmed wistfully, deep in thought. His claws intensified, as he became somewhat angry. "I was FORCED to become an Exorcist at a young age in an orphanage ran by an exorcist guild named Phantasm…..!_

_They FORCED Seer's blood into ME along with any other orphans that appeared on their doorstep, and trained us like SOLDIERS, pawns in their LITTLE game….!"_

" _Honey, I already know this!" Abby yelled out, somewhat annoyed. "You told me this when I met Ignatius for the first time!"_

_Noah shook his head, feeling bad. "I'm sorry, I went…. on a bit of a tangent. It….just filled me with bad memories…." Noah admitted, sorrowfully. He then looked at his young Ralts daughter, with tears in his eyes._

" _I….just hoped that I could….raise Lucy and Alastor away from the Exorcists…. To live a normal life, one that I never had…."_

_Noah shook his head, and became filled with determination. "But, I need to do this, to save Lucy! She'll suffer the visions of the dead, but I think I can find a way to keep her unaware of the dead and the Corrupted until she's old enough!"_

" _How?!" Abby asked, surprised by this, gaining a shocked face._

" _There's a type of drug that's sold at a hidden away Exorcist shop somewhere within the city that I know of…." Noah confirmed serious, filling with some hope but mostly despair. "…..It temporally blinds the user to the dead and the Corrupted, but also repels the Corrupted. It makes the user admit a smell that Corruptors hate, but no living Pokémon can smell…."_

_Noah sighed, somewhat disheartened. "It's a temporary solution to a permanent problem… One day, Lucy will have to be trained in some exorcist skills to defend herself from the Corruptors….but….."_

_Noah looked over to Lucy, sadly. "….I'll try and keep her in the dark about it up until then. I want her to live a happy life along with her brother….."_

_Abby nodded, thinking that's a good idea. "Fair enough. I'll call over the doctor then for the transfusion!"_

* * *

_**Flashback End** _

* * *

"So, there you go….. That's how Lucy got her ability to see the dead and the Corrupted…. All through an accident of my own…." Noah went sadly, as he continued to be healed by Sam as everyone else continued to listen. Lucy and Abby had tears in their eyes whilst Alastor looked completed horrified by this. Everyone else had surprised expression on their faces. Noah looks over to Lucy, who had tears running down her cheeks.

"Don't get me wrong, Lucy…. I didn't intend for this secret to harm you….. I just wanted to protect you….."

"The Exorcist guild known as Phantasm was an infamous guild amongst our country's religious guilds…." Ignatius confirmed gravely, scowling somewhat angrily. "It abused the orphans that stayed within their halls, physically, mentally and sometimes…."

A rather disdained look appeared on Ignatius's face as his claws tightened in silent anger, Jack stepped back in shock of this. "…..Well, you can probably guess what else…."

"Me and Ignatius were the lucky ones at that guild. We only suffered physically and mental abuse…." Noah continued to explain, sadly. "We managed to escape when we were ten along with some other orphans and we were on the run for about a year before we ran into our saviour…."

"Who was that?" Alastor questioned, surprised by this. Ignatius stepped forward, a warm smile appeared on his face.

"Well, it was Amos." He confirmed, a tiny bit happily. "He was a detective back when we first met him, and also a member of Fougueux Ville's exorcist guild, Spirit-Realm…. He single-handled save all of our lives and all the orphans at Phantasm by arresting and jailing all of the staff there, and took us in as his own…. After he took us in, some of us joined Spirit-Realm, some went into jobs but eventually moved back here in this town, and some of us never came back at all…."

"I didn't want to join Spirit-Realm…." Noah confessed, rather gloomily. "….I have no interest in becoming an exorcist at all after what happened at Phantasm…. Though I did keep in contact with Ignatius, the only one that I was close to at that….horrible….DISGUSTING….excuse of a guild…."

Noah looked over to Lucy, who is still crying. "I'm sorry Lucy…. I didn't want you to suffer the same fate as I did…. I was scared….I…I…I…I…"

Noah closed his eyes and sob silently, still feeling pain over what happened all those years ago. Sam, who had previously berated Noah over his lying to Lucy, frowned sadly, feeling guilty about what he said.

Lucy said nothing, getting up onto the bed to hug her father. "….It's okay, Dad…" she went, crying as well. "…..I forgive you….."

Abby sobbed a little, covering her face as Ignatius puts a hand on Noah's shoulder, while Jack and Charlotte looked dismally at each other, Peter crying a little as he finished up his chocolate bar. Alastor placed a flipper on his chest, an empty feeling springing from his heart.

"No more secrets, Dad…." Lucy said sadly, as she sniffed and wiped the warm tears away. "I love you, Dad…. I hope you can see that…."

Noah nodded, wiping tears away as well as he smiled sincerely but also sadly.

"DID SOMEONE MENTION 'HOPE'?!" a loud voice called out, rather ecstatic as it caught everyone off guard. A loud bang soon follows and everyone turned to see that the barricade to the balcony has been destroyed.

From the dust cloud that the bang caused, an Umbreon walked into the room, grinning manically. Lucy gasped at the Umbreon, as it had the weirdest and freakiest appearance that's she's ever seen, even more than the Corruptors!

For starters, the Umbreon's complete half left side is bleached a sickening bright white, like it had been burnt white for some reason. Its red eye clearly stands out from the white, like blood on a white bedsheet. On the Umbreon's normal black side, its eye appears to be completely red and shaped in the way a slash across the face would be.

"Upupupupupu!" the Umbreon cackled evilly, showing its white side to everyone. "Did someone mention hope, that's what I asked? WHO SAID IT! I want to know so I can feel good CRUSHING IT!"

When everyone was silent at this Umbreon's bizarre behaviour, it sighed somewhat disheartened, turning its body full centre. "Oh yeah, I realized, YOU LOT don't know who I am but I do! How troublesome…."

The Umbreon grinned, happily. "I tell you now! I'm Noirshiro Blanckuro, the Umbreon that IS DESPAIR INCARNATED IN LIVING FORM!"

"What…..the….?" Lucy went, completely bewildered by this. Noirshiro began to do a funny dance, if shaking their hips.

"Nice sob story there, Noah But it doesn't matter if it's sad or not, IT STILL CAUSED DESPAIR for your daughter!" Noirshiro complimented or insulted cheerfully. "That I can respect!"

"What are you going on about, you raving lunatic?!" Ignatius questioned puzzled and angry at Noirshiro's ramblings.

"Despair, the best thing in the world is what I'm going on about!" Noirshiro cheered, jumping up and down with a suddenly appearing top hat. "IT'S THE BEST, YOU SEE? Despair is what everyone has when they hit rock-bottom! Everyone does crazy things for despair! Murderers, Pokémon that force the you-know-what onto each other, drugs! They're doing this horrible things because they're filled with despair that no one would like them or love them or things are never going to be better! THAT'S WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS SITUTION! The Corruptors are attacking the hotel, filling everyone with despair because a lot of Pokémon are getting killed! MY BLOOD IS GETTING SO LUSTFULL! UPUPUPUPUPUPU!"

"Wait, are you the one who killed that Medicham outside?!" Charlotte barked angrily, grabbing her cross. Noirshiro nodded, turning his backside towards everyone.

"Yep, that was me! Not my best handiwork, but it will do for the sake of despair! Never liked Fighting-types, ya know? I'm glad I executed that Medicham" Noirshiro stated seriously, waving a paw up in the air as their tophat disappeared. "Besides, keep that cross away! I know what it does and trust me, YOU'LL SUFFER A MUCH WORSE FATE!"

"What do ya mean by 'executed', ya eegit?!" Jack questioned, pissed off at this Umbreon. Noirshiro gasped a little, raising a paw up in surprise.

"Oops, I said too much!" Noirshiro remarked cheekily. "I'll tell you later, IF THERE IS A LATER! UPUPUPUPUPUPU!"

Suddenly, a bunch of floating rope shot through the balcony and tied up everyone around waist with their arms/legs trapped underneath, preventing anyone from attacking. A couple of muzzles appear, attaching themselves quickly on Sam, Charlotte and Ignatius, to prevent them from chewing or burning themselves free.

As Lucy rolls off the bed, Noirshiro uses Psychic to pick everyone up and head towards the balcony. "What the heck do you think you're doing?! Where are you taking us?!"

Noirshiro grinned evilly, turning to Lucy, as a blindfold appeared to cover Lucy's eyes. "Oh, little, poor, pathetic, tiny, innocent, naïve Lucy! I'm taking you to the roof, where you'll feel despair as YOU ALL WILL DIE! UPUPUPUPUPUPUPU!"

* * *

**I̩͖͚̱̲̤̹̹ ̤́͟A̷̡͖̹̪͔̝͎̪Ḿ̨̟̰ ̸̵̡̝̩Ą̰̯͉͓͖̫͝N̢̘̞̖̥͎͞G̹̙̖̙͠E҉̵̶̬R͏̼̜̞̫**

**̱̼̙͓̯̙̥I̵̻̤̼̱ ̬̝A̶̻͔͙͟M̺͕͢ ͙͎͓̱̱̪͠Ś̲̣͚̤̭̪A̴͔̝̟D̵̸̘̥̮Ǹ͍̫͓̲̟̞̱È̀҉̳̯͓͕̞͔ͅS͙͈̙̞̪̩̰ͅS͟҉̜̖̠͝ͅ**

**͕̞͘I̵̸̷̝̮̙̹ ̴͎̻͇̪̼̞̠̣A̮̖̻͈ͅM̧̗̀ ̣͙̦̬͜B̢̰̬͍̳̳̣A̴̫͇̰̦͝Ŕ̢̡̲̹̦͔̳ͅG̷̟̩͔͇̬̩͇Ą̦̺͖̯͞I̵͏̻͇̲͈̯̦͈̹N̥̤̮͈̤͉̥̝͟I̧̛̳̞̖͎̖͔͖͢ͅͅǸ̶̫͞G҉̣̟**

* * *

**To be continued…?**

* * *


	13. Chaos at the top (Part 4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With with mysterious and homical Umbreon known as Noirshiro capturing them, things are looking bleak for Lucy.......

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 12:**

**Chaos at the top (Part 4)**

* * *

**12 hours until the death of Amos….**

* * *

**Now it's time for the first episode of Noirshiro Theatre, with your host, Noirshiro!**

* * *

A cartoon cut-out of Noirshiro sitting suddenly appears on a cartoon cut-out stage, with the curtains drawing out.

"Hello, I'm Noirshiro!" the cut-out of Noirshiro exclaimed excitedly, head moving from left to right. "I'm here to talk!"

After a pause, Noirshiro begins to speak his rambles. "Someone once told the meaning of harmony. There's many MANY different meanings to harmony, this Pokémon told me so. But the one that mostly applies to everything is a harmony that many different tasty components living in sequence in each other without causing disruption in a negative to everything else!

Think it about this, nature grows the leaves that the Weedles eat which then the Pidgeottos consume. The Pidgeottos then lay eggs which the Sneasel eats, and the broken eggshells decompose into compost for the trees to gain nutrients in order to grow the leaves!

That's harmony right there! Everything has a place in order for everything to live! If you were to take one of these things out the equation, everything will be disrupted!

Personally, I'm more of a chaos sort of Umbreon! I love chaos! Where unpredictable events where no order nor harmony can happen as ANYTHING that happen! Love, death, explosions, everything can be chaos will be chaos! Wars and anarchy are the best examples!

It make me SO EXCITED when chaos is mentioned! It can lead to despair, and WE all know I love despair! IT FILLS ME AND MAKES ME FILL HOT! UPUPUPUPUPU!"

* * *

**Now back to our regular schedule programming!**

* * *

Blinded, Lucy has no idea where she is at the current moment. Last thing she saw before being blindfolded was the freakish face of Noirshiro, somehow carrying everyone using Psychic and tied up with rope after being confused at Noirshiro's rambles.

Currently, the only thing she can see at the moment is darkness. What she can _hear_ is the sound of the wind, which indicates that she's currently on the roof somewhere, where the wind can be heard. That and while blindfolded, Noirshiro joyfully remarked that they're taking everyone to the roof, to feel 'despair' as 'you all will die!' as weirdly coloured Umbreon had cackled.

What on earth did they mean by that? To feel despair as she dies? Noirshiro can't do that….can they?

Lucy shook her head as the breeze flowed through wherever she is now. It sounded like a cage of some sort from what she could tell. Noirshiro had announced that they all arrived at the roof and threw the males into one cage and the females into another cage.

Currently, Lucy is feeling kinda warm at the moment, despite the breeze. That must mean that she's sitting next to Charlotte, probably near her tail. The occasionally muffled and frustrated sigh from the Charmeleon must mean that's she getting more and more annoyed by the situation.

It's no wonder why she's feeling like that! Being restrained and locked in a cage isn't a thing you would like to do on your to-do list! It's also being muzzled and the fact that Jack is currently screaming bloody murder at Noirshiro, wherever the twisted Umbreon is currently at. The type of language that Jack is currently using at the moment is SO BAD that the author is having to use substitute words in order for the rating of this story NOT to go up!

"YA FUDGING PIECE OF CRAP GIMP!" Jack roared lividly from inside the cage. "WHEN ME GETS FUDGING MY PAWS ON YA, I'M GONNA DO CLEM TO YA! I'M GONNA FUDGING MAKE YA PAY, YA PIECE OF CRAP TOOL AND SCUMBAG!"

"Young lady, would you please calm down?!" Abby bluntly asked rudely to Jack, rather annoyed by her screaming.

"NO FUDGING WAY, BURE! I AIN'T GONNA BE SILENT UNTIL ME PAWS AROUND 'HAT BLEEDING SCUMBAG OF A UMBREON'S FUDGING NECK! I'LL GIVE THEM A GOOD BAYTIN'!"

"Jmph, smphw mphw!" Charlotte remarked in a muffled but annoyed tone of voice. Jack sighed, calming down a bit.

"Ya right there, Charlotte….Me temper got da best of me again…." The irish Luxio admitted, shamefully. A small growl then began to come from Jack. "I just wanna make 'hat bleeding Umbreon pay! He's got Ignatius, Sam and da rest lock away somewhere, and I don't wanna see them hurt, or killed! And I'm 'ere, bounded and blind and looking like an utter gammy eegit!"

"I understand the feeling, young lady…." Abby went, trying to stay calm, thinking up something as far as Lucy can tell. "….my husband and my son are there as well. If there's any chance of us getting out of here along with them, we need to stay calm and collective. We need a plan to escape…."

"I….agree…" Lucy started rather softly, trying to stay calm. "I think the first step we need to do is get these blindfolds off and break free of these ropes…."

"Aye, 'hat's the best step first!" Jack agreed, seriously. From what Lucy can tell, she heard a shaking noise straight afterwards. Then a few steps in the change. "….Errrgh….nope….s-shaking 'em off ain't a grand idea…."

"Mphpw, pmpwh mphw?" Charlotte suggested to Abby, curiously. Lucy barely heard her mother nod. "Good idea, I'll try and use Psychic to take it off….."

After a few second, Lucy heard her mother groan with frustration, if angry about it. She then sighed "Huh…. This blindfold must be tighten extremely tight….My Psychic energy won't be able to take it off…."

Lucy's heart began to fill with despair, as the situation became bleaker. With no way to begin to escape, how would they ever live? Tears began to roll down Lucy's face, feeling despair as the mad cackle of Noirshiro.

Suddenly the noise of paper rustling was heard, followed by a sound of food being eaten. "So what's going on here, then?" a voice asked, curiously with innocent intent.

"Stringslicer?! Ya 'ere?! Where da feck 'ave ya been?!" Jack questioned, astonished by the sudden appearance (is it really an appearance? They're blindfolded, after all) of Stringslicer. More rustling of paper could be heard, like something was being offered to Jack.

"I was getting this sandwich. Want some?" Stringslicer innocently asked. Jack growled angrily at the new figure, extremely annoyed.

"NO, I DON'T BLEEDING WANT SOME! I TIED UP 'ERE, YA TWAT!" Jack roared out angrily at Stringslicer. A slight shrugging noise was heard from this 'Stringslicer'. "Eh, suit yourself. More for me, then! Sneh heh heh…."

"Wait, who's this 'Stringslicer'?" Abby questioned, completely confused on what's happening. Some shuffling noise soon follows, like someone within the cage was moving about.

"Stringslicer, well, they're a Corrupted Ariados…. A red wan, though…" Jack replied, still rather annoyed by Stringslicer's attitude. Lucy immediately tensed up at the mention of 'Corrupted' as the memories of Bonecruncher came rushing back.

"A Corruptor?!" she shrilled, terrified as she backed into the cage's bar completely frightened at the fact that a Corruptor is near her. "Get IT away from ME! I don't want to be eaten!"

"Hey, you stink to me slightly, so even if I DID want to eat you, I wouldn't because of that terrible smell!" Stringslicer shot back, rather annoyed at Lucy's comment. A small chuckle from Jack was heard after the Corrupted Ariados had said that comment.

"Don't worry, feek. Stringslicer is a Red Corrupted, which mean he'sa good wan…." Jack smiled softly, from what Lucy could tell. Suddenly, Jack gasped a little, realizing something. "Hey, Stringslicer! Could ya try and free us 'ere? We're…. in a bad situation….."

"Say no more!" Stringslicer went, rather cheerfully, going over to the door to unlock it with their two front legs. "I happened to come across the hotel attack after I got my sandwich earlier and Kiri requested to try and find you as all of you had been in the hotel for a bit too long! She convinced me to go find you lot in exchange for some yummy Japanese food!

As I was crawling my way up the building, I noticed that you all tied up by that weirdo…. Seriously, what's with that appearance? But I digress! I was waiting for a chance for that weirdo Umbreon to go away so I could do….."

A suddenly small click noise was heard, and the cage door swung open. "…..this!" Stringslicer quietly announced, crawling into the cage. "Brace yourself Jack! You can handle the stinky girl after I free you!"

A suddenly snap/tear of a rope breaking was heard, and then the unravelling of cloth soon followed. "Thanks, Stringslicer! I owe ya wan!" she remarked, heartily but quietly. Jack went over to Lucy as far as she could tell. "'ang on there, Lucy…. I free ya in a sec….!"

A sudden crackle from Jack was heard and then Lucy felt the ropes loosen a little with a mild little shock to her. As soon as her arms were free, Lucy went to undo her blindfold. Once she took it off, Lucy blinked for a couple of second, her vision blurry as she slowly but surely regains her sight. What she can see becoming clear is the fact that Stringslicer was on the opposite side of the cage, freeing Charlotte while Jack was using Thunder Fang to free her mother.

Once everyone was free, Stringslicer turned to everyone before they could properly escape the cage. They had a serious expression on their face. "Right then…." They startled, scuttling on the spot with determination. "….you gotta fight Noirshiro if you want to leave here alive! From what I've seen from what that freakish Umbreon is doing, it's going to be hard to fight them…."

"What do ya mean?" Jack questioned, confused by this statement. Stringslicer looked round nervously, to see if there was anyone nearby.

"I mean, this Umbreon came prepared for a fight!" Stringslicer replied, rather uneased by what's on the roof. "Machinery designed to fight and capture yellow Corruptors, cages to keep said Corruptors in, grunts with weird insignias on, bait, weapons, the stuff! I think that this Umbreon is the cause of what's happening to the hotel! It's not an attack, it's a hunting ground!"

"Huh…" Charlotte went, claw hand on chin to think. "….that explains the lack of yellow Corruptors, despite the destruction in the hotel…. Noirshiro must have lured them here and captured them…."

"But why?" Abby asked curious, kneeling down as the cage was too small for her to stand up in. "….why would this 'Noirshiro' do this? What purpose does he, or she have?"

"'ow the feck am I suppose to know?" Jack remarked, seriously. "All I know is 'hat freakish Umbreon is causing chaos in da hotel!"

"We need to rescue Dad, Alastor and the others, and stop Niroshiro from causing any more havoc!" Lucy stated seriously, frowning as she said this. The rest of the group nodded, with Stringslicer looking nervous as she said this.

"You better hurry up! When I got onto the roof earlier, Niroshiro was talking to some of his grunts, and it sounds like they're going to leave soon with the Corruptors, but will kill everyone who's not working with them!" Stringslicer said gravelly, scuttling on the spot. "Even if you're gonna free your friends and family, Niroshiro's got enough grunts about to beat all of you up!"

"'ow many grunts does that tool 'ave?" Jack asked to Stringslicer, seriously. Stringslicer thought for a moment then replied "As far as I'm away of, 12 grunts on hand. Three of them are Bisharps, four are Machamps, two Skarmonys, and the rest of Toxicroaks!"

"Hmm…." Charlotte went, thinking hard. "So, in total, there's 13 strong and fully evolved Pokémon that can handle Corruptors… Including Noirshiro…. While with us, we have three fully evolved Pokémon, which one of them is injured, four mid-evolved Pokemon, two of them without any Exorcist training, two basic form Pokémon and one Corruptor…."

"Even if I can't see the Corruptor, we're still have no match…." Abby added in, seriously. "…that Umbreon took us off guard but though I won't let them get the best of me again, I think that Umbreon might have a trick or two up their sleeve….."

"Stringslicer….!" Charlotte began, thinking up a plan to possibly win. "….I need you to go get Kiri, Amos and Intoxiquer. With their help, we might have a shot at beat Noirshiro and making them pay for what they did to the hotel and the lives of the public!"

Stringslicer nodded, dropping a key onto the floor. "You'll need this to unlock the other cage… I managed to snag this from a Toxicroak before I came to your cage…." Stringslicer explained, beginning to head out of the cage. "I couldn't get your cage's key, but this will work on the other cage, I'm sure of it! It has a note on it saying so! I'll go get Kiri and the rest!"

As Stringslicer left, Charlotte picks up the key, and smiles a little. "All right, I got a plan. We get out of this cage and scour the area for the other cage. Lucy will go and unlock it carefully…." Charlotte explain her plan seriously and in detail. "…..if there's any guards near it, depending on what type of Pokémon it is, the rest of us will knock them out. Once they're knocked out or if there's no guards there, we'll free our friends and try and take out some of the grunts discreetly before taking on the big bad here, Noirshiro!"

"Wait, why Lucy?" Jack questioned, confused by this. Charlotte looked unimpressed by this, sighing in an annoyed tone.

"You and Mrs Angelo are big enough to get notice, besides you are WAY too loud through your voice and movements so you would get noticed straight away!" Charlotte quietly stated, annoyed. "I stick out because of my tail! Lucy, however, is the smallest and quietest of us! She'll be able to move around the place if we help her get to the cage."

With Jack looking annoyed at being called 'loud', Abby and Lucy nodded, and the four got out of the cage to begin their plan, which then Lucy saw the full extent of the building.

First of all, it appears that the cage that the group of girls were near the entrance of the roof, as their cage was behind it. Looking over, Lucy saw the rest of the roof. A helicopter pad is placed on the far side of the roof, where it appears that's where Noirshiro is, sitting on a red and gold throne as they were reading from something.

Several crates can be seen on the helipad, some of them shaking VERY violently as the Machamp grunts sit on the crates to stop them from moving. The Bisharps grunts are to the left of Noirshiro, packing away stuff into storage crates along with the Toxicroaks. The Skarmonys on top of the second cage, where Alastor, Noah, Ignatius, Sam and Peter are currently locked in, scanning the area for anything that isn't with them. Several crates are placed in front of the cage, blocking Noirshiro's view of the prisoners. The group of prisoners themselves are quiet, if trying to hear what's around them.

Some weird machinery, resembling small mechas, are placed on the helipad. The mechas appear to resemble Bowser's clown car, only without the propeller and the clown face but has large mechanical arms and legs. Almost all of them are coloured a military gren colour, par one, which is black and white and has a weird red slash on one side, similar to how Noirshiro looks like.

Nearby the group of girls is the ventilation system for the hotel. Seeing that the Skarmonys are looking away, the group quickly dash over to hide behind it. "Geez, looks like Stringslicer wasn't kidding by the amount of Pokémon here!" Charlotte stated seriously, peeking out of the side of the ventilation system.

"Aye…." Jack whispered quietly, keeping her voice down. "'ow are we gonna get over there without those scumbags noticing us?"

Suddenly, one of the Skarmony screeched, alerting Noirshiro and the grunts, surprising the group as they duck behind the ventilation system. "Commander Noirshiro! The helicopter is coming in!"

Then, the sound of a helicopter filled the air, as Lucy saw a military-grade helicopter that is used for transport flew in from nowhere to land on the helipad, on which the group began to watch the scene unfold. What strikes odd to Lucy is an insignia on the side of the helicopter, which is a light purple 'S' on the back of a grey orb.

Ecstatic by the appearance of the helicopter, Noirshiro jumped off their throne as the helicopter land firmly as the blades stopped spinning. Soon, the doors to the helicopter opened, as a Raichu with professional-looking black glasses and a starry-patterned scarf comes out of the helicopter as the Machamps, Toxicroaks and the Bisharps begin to load the helicopter.

"Afternoon, Digby!" Noirshiro exclaimed excitedly, as the grunts continue the loading of the crates into the helicopter, as the named Raichu brings out a digital tablet to check it off. "We got a lovely and delicious batch of Corruptors this time! I think Phase 2 will be done quickly with THIS! Upupu…."

"Hmm, yes, the boss will be pleased with your work, Noirshiro…." Digby remarked, frowning as looked at the digital tablet, then to the oddly coloured Umbreon. "Sorry that I couldn't help you, the boss needed my help with something, though he wants to know why you're pulling this off as an attack on the hotel…."

Digby frowned, putting his hands on his hips while still holding the digital tablet. "Our hunts for the Corrupted are usually in the middle of the night whilst in the town's underground. What the boss wants to know is why are you doing it like this?"

"Oh oho oho!" Noirshiro went, feeling animated as they did a little dance. "You see, since this is the LAST chance we're getting the Corruptors before we head into Phase 2 of our plan, I thought WE should go OUT with a bang! Have a hunt with EVERYONE to see!"

Digby nodded, still frowning. "Hmm…. Wouldn't that attract the attention of Spirit-Realm? They are the town's main exorcists, especially the Knights of Grief…." He asked, concerned by this whilst crossing his arms.

Noirshiro smirked deviously. "Ah, don't worry about that, Digby old buddy old pal!" Noirshiro replied, feeling mischievously as they stopped dancing and pointed their black self towards Digby. "I got second in command and most of the Knights of Grief here prisoner along with some citizens who had a pathetic sob story! I'mma do my usual thing with them, so tell the boss that we shouldn't worry about Spirit-Realm!"

Digby nodded, the said Raichu deep in thought. "Hmm…. Yeah, I guess we shouldn't worry about them…. If by your usual thing, that means that Spirit-Realm will lose so many powerful members that they'll be too busy to stop our plan…." Digby thought out aloud, impressed by this. "Speaking of those prisoners, where are they?"

"They're in cages, like the ones the Skarmonys are on!" Noirshiro remarked cheekily. When the oddly coloured Umbreon said that sentence, Digby went back to look at his tablet, if looking for something.

"That reminds me…. 'Riles' as Sakura calls him, needs the Skarmonys for something…" the bespectacled Raichu stated seriously. "…..something that isn't that important but Riles wanted to know if he could borrow them for a while."

Noirshiro went back to showing both their sides, standing straight. "Eh, go ahead! I'll take care of the prisoners myself! YO, AARON AND WILL! GO HELP RILES"

"Yes, Commander Noirshiro!" the two Skarmonys screeched, proceeding to take off from the cage, high into the air. Lucy saw her chance to go free the others, but before she could do that, Jack suddenly grabbed her hand, to get Lucy's attention.

Turning round in confusion, Jack reaches into her hair to pull out a small pocket knife. " _Here…_ " Jack whispered as quietly as she could. " _…use this to cut the others out of there!_ "

Nodding, Lucy grabs the pocket knife and as quietly as she could, runs over to the cage when the men are. Once she's got there, she saw that Alastor was nearest to the door, with the others sat in various places. All of them are blind-folded, to prevent them from seeing anything.

" _Hey, Alastor! Stay quiet and listen to me!"_ Lucy commanded to Alastor quietly, catching the said Prinplup's attention and the rest of the group. "…. _And the rest of you as well! In a second, I'm gonna come in and free you lot…. But you have to stay quiet as I do this! Once one of you is free, you help another to get free as well! Once everyone is free, head towards the ventilation system ASPA but BE silent! Got it?"_

Alastor, Ignatius, Noah, Sam and Peter nodded, staying silent to try and not to catch the attention of Noirshiro, who was too busy talking with Digby. With that, Lucy goes to unlock the cage slowly, trying to be quiet as she can. With every second, her heart quivers in fright, hands shaking nervously as she turns the key, scared that Noirshiro will suddenly appear and catch her in the middle of doing this.

With a small click, the cage door opens and Lucy pulls it open, taking the key out of the door and goes into the cage. Using the small pocket knife that Jack had given to her earlier, Lucy uses to cut the ropes around Alastor. For some reason, it was actually quite easy to cut, just that the rope is WAY too tight. That's probably why Noirshiro bind Charlotte and Ignatius around their claws, to prevent them from cutting themselves free.

Undoing Alastor's blindfold, it took a few seconds for him for his vision to return back to normal. Once done, Alastor and Lucy look at each other for a few seconds before giving a nod to each other, understanding that they need to free everyone quickly. With that, Lucy goes to free her father while Alastor uses Metal Claw to free Sam and undo his muzzle. Once those two are free, Sam goes to free Peter while both Lucy and Alastor free Ignatius as Noah undoes Ignatius' muzzle.

Once seeing everyone is free, everyone quickly but quietly exited the cage, going over to the ventilation system as silently as they can to avoid detection. Ignatius and Noah ducked down to avoid getting spotted, as they are the tallest out of the group. As soon as everyone is behind the ventilation system, standing, ducking or sitting down to stay out of sight, Lucy peeked her head out to see what's happening with Noirshiro.

"…..and that's about it. I'll take most of the grunts back to help unload our….cargo." Digby remarked calmly, ticking off on whatever was on the digital tablet as the grunts finish loading the helicopter. "Once you're done here with those prisoners, come back to the base as soon as possible, will you? We're having some Italian food tonight, according to the chef. If you're late back, you'll miss out!"

"Upupupupu!" Noirshiro giggled a little, looking excited as Digby said that. "I'll be there, NO MATTER WHAT! I hope there's plenty of spaghetti! I LOVE NODDLES WITH TOMATO SAUCE AND MEAT!"

Digby shook his head, as he began to leave. "I'll send a message out to Sakura, to come pick you up just in case. If any word gets out about you attacking the hotel, you'll be easy to find with your….unique appearance."

"HEY!" Noirshiro suddenly barked, going into a battle stance as Digby headed towards the helicopters door, chuckling a little. "WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN?! IS IT BECAUSE I HAVE THE CURVIEST HIPS IN THIS TOWN? YOU WANT SOME OF THIS, DON'T YOU?!"

As Digby shuddered in disgust of what the half-black half-white Umbreon had said, he proceeded to go up into the military helicopter's bay doors with the majority of the grunts. With that, the doors close, the helicopter ready for take-off. After about a minute or so, the helicopter's blades begin to spin, causing a loud noise. Then, the helicopter takes off, flying off into the distance.

After the helicopter leaves, Lucy noticed that all that's left of the grunts is a Machamp, a Bisharp and a Toxicroak with Noirshiro. Lucy turned round to see that the rest of the group is up to speed with what's happening.

" _So, what are we gonna do?"_ Alastor whispered, seriously whilst looking frightened on what Noirshiro could do if they discovered them there. "…. _Are we gonna fight?_ "

Ignatius thought for a moment, then nodded. " _…We should. We greatly outnumber Noirshiro's forces here. We got about nine Pokémon here, compared to what Noirshiro has at the moment…._ " Ignatius remarked carefully and quietly. " _….He…she… I can't tell WHAT gender Noirshiro is, but they got about four Pokémon there, including themselves. We should easily get the jump on them…."_

" _Besides,_ _Stringslicer is coming back with Amos, Kiri and Intoxiquer, so we have even more Pokemon to beat Noirshiro with!"_ Charlotte added in, almost silently, surprising Ignatius.

" _So Stringslicer appeared here? I wondered what Kiri, Intoxiquer or the Guildmaster bribed Stringslicer with….?_ " Ignatius pondered to himself, but then shook his head. " _But that doesn't matter, that means that we'll have enough Pokémon to beat them down even if they're stronger than we expected!"_

" _If you don't mind…_ " Noah went, obviously still in pain with his sling. " _…I need to stay back, I don't think I'm in fight condition…._ "

Ignatius nodded, thinking. " _That's fine, my brother. Peter, go escort Noah out of this place the moment we go attack."_

Peter was about to nod, but suddenly everyone gained a blue outline. Lucy suddenly felt light, being thrown up into the air by psychic energy, flying over to the helipad, where a very pissed off Noirshiro, who's using Psychic, is waiting.

"WELL, WELL, WELL, WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?!" Noirshiro screeched loudly, very, very annoyed as their eyes continue to glow to keep everyone still. Noirshiro snarled their teeth very angrily. "WE GOT A COUPLE OF WISEGUYS HERE, DON'T WE, MY COMRADES? LET'S SHOW WHAT WE THINK OF WISEGUYS!"

The Machamp, Bisharp and Toxicroak go over to a box that hadn't been put onto the helicopter, and pull out multiple guns. The Machamp pulled out a set and a single military grade pistol for each hand par one, the Bisharp and the Toxicroak pulling out military machine guns. Then, the three gun-wielding Pokemon points at the group, who Noirshiro lets go of through Psychic means.

"Don't move, otherwise you'll be found with a bullet in your head!" Noirshiro threatened heavily and angrily, showing their black side to the group. "Did you really think that I couldn't hear your whispering?! I KNOW EVERYTHING!"

Lucy, shaking with fear, glanced over to see what the rest of the group is like at the moment. Like her, Alastor, her mother and father are all fearful and shaking. Ignatius looked very angry along with Jack, Sam and Charlotte wearing scowls on their faces and Peter is crying in fear, sniffing as he's frightened.

"Upupupu….!" Noirshiro went, calming down a little. "You got to admit, I would never HAD EXPECTED OUTSIDE HELP for you! If I did, I would HAD torn that STUPID Corruptor to SHREDS and have a lovely meals with it's remains!"

Noirshiro shook their head and glared at their hostages. "You're really stupid, you know? You think you can best me, the great Noirshiro?! THAT'S FUNNY…..NOT!" Noirshiro yelled out angrily. After a few seconds after yelling that, Noirshiro takes a few deep breaths in and out.

"Now you really ticked me off! You defied me by escaping!" the twisted Umbreon remarked, jumping up onto red and gold throne. "Kenchi, bring out the last hostage we have!"

The Machamp nodded, and using the last free hand that he had, reached into the crate and pulls out a tied up and blindfolded Elgyem , horrifying the group. Lucy gritted her teeth, shocked to see that they missed a prisioner.

"W-w-what's happening?!" the Elgyem cried out in fear, scared on what's happening. The Machamp walked over to Noirshiro's throne and places the Elgyem on a small chair in front of the twisted Umbreon, still pointing the pistols at the group.

"What da feck do ya think ya doing?!" Jack questioned, confused at what happening. Noirshiro gained a cocky and sly smirk, chuckling a little.

"I WWAAASSS waiting to do this back at the base…..but I guess I can do it now to give a little preview on what's coming to you!" Noirshiro replied, looking excited. "This little punk attacked me earlier, and now has to pay the price!"

"What price?!" Sam barked angrily, confused as well. Noirshiro chuckled a little, eyes widening in happiness.

"Upupupupu…." Noirshiro started, feeling exicted. "It's BEEN AGES SINCE I felt like THIS! The feeling of excitement….the amount of despair that it cause to YOU! MY BLOOD IS RUNNING WILD! I'M FEEL SO HOT AND GOOD RIGHT NOW! LET'S GET TO IT! THE PUNISHMENT OF THIS PUNK!"

"What's this 'Punishment'?!" Alastor yelled out, tension rising. The Toxicroak behind him sighed a little. "'Punishment' is Commander Noirshiro's way of saying that they're gonna execute their target."

"WHAT?!" the whole group yelled out in shock and horror. Lucy's eyes darted towards the small Elgyem, who is wriggling on the chair.

Noirshiro takes a deep breath, smirking. "I've prepared a VERY SPECIAL PUNISHMENT for this Elgyem, known as Paul Liaen!" Noirshiro declared loudly to everyone, as Paul begins to yell out in fear. "Let's give it all we've got! IT'S...EXECUTION TIME!"

* * *

A three dimensional model of Noirshiro sitting on their throne appears, as a pedestal with a small screen and a big red button begins to rise in front of the oddly coloured Umbreon. As the pedestal rises, Noirshiro grabs a toy hammer from behind them and raises it up into the air, with their red slash eye briefly glowing as they slam it down to hit the button.

Then the camera zooms into the screen as it activates from the button. On the screen, a 2D, 8-bit sprite of Paul appears standing there, motionlessly. Suddenly, an 8-bit version of Noirshiro appears walking towards the Elgyem. As 8-bit Noirshiro pass Paul, the sprite for him suddenly gets dragged off screen, as the words ' **IT'S GAME OVER FOR PAUL! IT'S TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT**!' appears on screen as this happens.

* * *

Everything returns to the scene at hand, but everyone looks like extremely detailed cutouts, in fear of what's happening. Paul struggles on the seat, as Norishiro is chuckling on what's happening. Suddenly, tons of metal fly in from nowhere, spiralling around Paul. The metal combines with each other, creating new shapes. The sound of metal clanging and melding together is heard as a cloud of smoke forms around Paul.

Then, the cloud disappears, showing that a small space rocket with Noirshiro's face on the top has formed around Paul, with two doors open to see a terrified Elgyem blindfolded and strapped to the chair inside. Noirshiro suddenly grabs a joy-stick remote control, and presses the button on the joystick, slamming the doors shut, TIGHT!

**PAUL LIAEN'S EXECUTION: DEATH BY BLASTED ROCKET!**

Suddenly, the rocket's start working, igniting as the rocket began to blast off. Going up into the air, Noirshiro controls the rocket with the joystick. Then, Noirshiro started to furiously move the joystick as they cackle with laughter with the rocket high in the air.

Left, right, up, down, that's the way that the rocket goes! Right, up, left, right, where it will stop nobody knows! Slide to the left, slide to the right death is almost here! Violently go up, violently go down, can't you hear Noirshiro's cheers?! Up up, down down, left right left right BA, isn't that a code? Down down, up up, right left right left AB, Noirshiro's loving this game's difficult, it's become a mode!

Niroshiro's having so much fun with the rocket, doing tricks in the air at full speed, they're failed to notice that the rocket's almost out of fuel. The moment that it did run out, it was way high up above the hotel and fell down hard.

The rocket crashed onto the helipad, it created a large crater on top, forcing some of the prisoners back from the force of the crash. After a few seconds, the doors of the rocket open up, and the skeletal remains of the Elgyem fall out of the rocket, horrifying everyone as Noirshiro cackles with joy.

* * *

"WHAT DA ACTUAL FECK?!" Jack screamed out in horror, snapping Lucy back into reality as everything returns back to their normal 3D shape. Lucy steps back a little, breathe hardly there as the skull of the Elgyem rolls out of the rocket. Noirshiro jumps off their throne as their grunts continue to point the guns at Lucy and the group.

"Upupupu!" the twisted Umbreon chuckled weirdly, spinning around on the spot with a joyful spring in their step. "That's better! I feel SO MUCH better when I feel execute someone! THAT REALLY cheered me up!"

Noirshiro grinned widely, showing off sharp razor teeth. "And I'm loving the DESPAIR on your faces, PEOPLE! WHERE DID you get it?!"

Lucy glanced over to see absolutely terrified faces from everyone, ranging from loss of colour in faces while wearing a terrifying look, such as Jack, Ignatius and Noah, to others breaking down in tears, like Peter, Charlotte Alastor, Abby and surprisingly Sam. Lucy could hear her heart beat extremely hard as her panic levels continue to rise, breathing heavily. Lucy swears she could hear the thoughts of the others, though most of them are ' _We're gonna die here….!_ ' and ' _What are we gonna do…?_ '

"Wow, silence! Tough crowd!" Noirshiro remarked, surprised by this. "Silence after that then? I would had expected something out of all of you! How disappointing…."

"HOW DA FECK ARE WE'RE SUPPOSE TO REACT AFTER SEE 'HAT, YA SCUMBAG BOD?!" Jack roared out angrily, furious and scared at the same time.

"Someone….was murdered…RIGHT IN FRONT of us!" Ignatius clearly stated, obviously livid on what he saw. "….And you expect US to soak it up like NOTHING happened?!"

Noirshiro glanced around, looking around for something. They then shook their head. "Sorry about that. I was looking for my damn to give, can't seem to find it!" Noirshiro started off, innocently They then scowled, annoyed. "Yes, I DO expect you to do that! That's how it was back in the old days, kill or BE killed! A Pokémon-eats-Pokémon world! The days of despair where slaughter was a daily occurrence! Nowadays, it's just BORING with PEACE!"

Noirshiro sat down, turning their scowl into a grin. "But I'm determined to bring that back one day! The new world order where we can just kill each other without the consequences! Without sins! SINS are boring! If we didn't HAVE them, we would do as we please!"

"….I swear, as long as I live, I'll bring you to justice, you twisted Umbreon!" Sam threatened seriously, regaining his composure as he said this. Charlotte and Jack nodded to this. Peter, with tears still running down his face, nodded as well as he added something else on.

"My grandpa…..he'll stop you!" Peter blurted out, nervously. "He's the strongest Pokémon I know….. He'll make you pay for making me cry!"

"I may be injured…." Noah started, his only useable flipper's claws tensing up. "But I'm sure I'll kick your ass if I try! You will regret killing that poor Pokémon! My family and I will stop you!" As Noah said that, Alastor, Abby and even Lucy nodded, filled with determination to beat Noirshiro and live.

The grunts were surprised by this, looking with each other with uncertainty. Noirshiro sat there for a moment emotionless, if taking their time to process the information in their head. Suddenly, they sigh, disheartened.

"Haaahhuu…. How disappointing…." Noirshiro remarked, saddened by this. "I was expecting your despair to last even longer….. But NOW you're filled with HOPE! That's a real bummer….."

Noirshiro sat there, extremely depressed. Then, they shook their head, getting their senses back together, becoming angry.

"NOW I'M REALLY PISSED OFF!" Noirshiro roared out angrily, causing the group of prisoners to be taken aback as the grunts grin to see their boss's passion for despair reignited. "I SET UP A DESPAIR-INDUCING PUNISHMENT FOR ALL OF YOU TO WITNESS AND ENJOY AND YOU LOTS ARE FILLED WITH HOPE?! THAT'S SICKENS ME! IT MAKES MY BLOOD RUN COLD!"

Noirshiro turned their back towards the group, snarling with rage as they walked back to the throne, using Psychic to move the rocket and the skeleton out of the way, keeping the chair there. "KENCHI! MOVE that IDIOTIC EMPOLEON on the chair! I WANT TO SEE THE TASTY DESPAIR ON HIS FAMILY'S FACES AS HE DIES!"

"N-n-no!" Lucy cried out in horror as the Machamp kicked Noah to the floor, hurting his already injured arm. Noah yelped in pain as the Machamp strongly and violently grabbed him by the head and dragged him over to the chair.

"LET MY HUSBAND GO!" Abby yelled out in anger, going to move. Suddenly, the Toxicroak jabbed the military machine gun into Abby's back hard, causing her to fall flat on her face. Alastor, colour lost in his face, went to his mother's side.

"Mum, are you okay?!" Alastor questioned to his mother, extremely worried. Abby raised up a little, gritting her teeth with frustration as she nodded, glaring angrily at the Toxicroak.

"I told you, if you make a move, I'll put a bullet in your skull!" The Toxicroak repeated, calmly as he pointed the machine gun at Alastor and Abby. "Don't make me repeat myself!"

The group watched helplessly as the Machamp forces Noah onto the chair, pointing the three pistols at Noah. "Make a move from that chair, your family gets bullets all round!"

Noah, saying nothing, spat at the Machamp in disgust, though he missed. The Machamp didn't seem to mind, going back to his comrades to continue to hold the group at gunpoint. Noirshiro is sat there, grinning to themselves.

"Oh boy, this will make me feel better!" Noirshiro commented, cheerfully. "Another execution followed by despair! Upupupupupupu…."

" _No….!_ " Lucy thought to herself in complete and utter horror on what's happening. Her father is about to be executed and she can't even do a thing! Her body's completely frozen on the spot, heart-pulsing at high speeds as her blood runs fast and cool, causing her to shake out of control. She can't even speak! " _Dad can't die…."_

"I've prepared a VERY SPECIAL PUNISHMENT for this Empoleon, known as Noah 'Angelo'!" Noirshiro declared out loudly and proudly.

"Please….no….stop! PLEASE STOP, PLEASE!" Lucy finally yelled out, heart-stricken as her father was about to die. "DAD! YOU CAN'T DIE HERE! I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH! **PLEASE, NOIRSHIRO, STOP FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! JUST STOP!** "

"Nope!" Noirshiro simply and happily replied, looking cheerfully. "Let's give it all we've got! IT'S...EXECUTION TIME!"

"Lucy….Alastor…. Abby…" Noah started, calmly, facing away from Lucy. Tears started to flow down his face. "….I'm sorry for not being a perfect parent and husband…..and I'm sorry that I have to leave you here….." Lucy, unable to comprehend this, let out an unholy, despairful, horrified scream.

" **NNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOO! DDAAAAADDDDD!** "

* * *

After that, everything went still for Lucy as her vision went black, everything surrounded and covered by darkness, eating and consuming the scenery around her. It happened so quickly, she barely had time to notice as she began to shake violently, falling to the floor.

Silence filled her ears, darkness filled her vision as she could feel nothing, taste nothing. Her world had become literally darkness.

As Lucy continue to shake violently on the floor, traumatise to see her father about to be executed, a rather feminine voice rang out in the empty void of the darkness.

" **So, you love your father then?** " the voice questioned, curiously. " **Even after what he's done? He lied to you, after all.** "

Lucy's head shot up, eyes darting around the void, looking angrily. "I D-DON'T CARE IF HE'S LIED TO ME! HE'S STILL MY DAD! HE'S PROTECTED ME BECAUSE HE CARES ABOUT ME!"

" **Do you care about him?** " the voice questioned again, with the same out of curiousness. Lucy nodded, calming down a bit.

"Yeah, I do. I love my family…. Me, Alastor, my mum and my dad…. I care about them a lot! Even if my mum and dad lied to me, I can understand why…." Lucy replied, somewhat sad but happy at the same time. "….the Corruptors are scary…. And vicious…. I always knew my dad had a bad past but I didn't know it was related to the Corruptors… But I don't blame him. The world is a messed up place with messed up Pokémon…. He was only trying to protect me from it….. My mum was helping too…. Alastor had no idea what was going on but he was sticking by my side…. If I think about it, Alastor's always been there to cheer me up, if I wanted it or not….. I love him too…."

" **I see.** " The voice affirmed calmly, if thinking. After a few seconds, it asked another few questions. " **So you're saying that your family has done this out of love? Is that what you're saying?** "

Lucy nodded, to affirm this as she got up off from the floor. "Yes, that's what I'm saying." Lucy stated, seriously. "Who are you, anyway?!"

" **Me? I had a name a long time ago…. I don't really remember what it was.** " The voice started, surprised by the question. " **But, one more thing.** **Those acts your family has done for you…. Would you do the same for them?** "

Lucy nodded once more, looking sad. "Yes…. I would…. But I'm helpless at the moment…. My dad is about to die and I can't even DO ANYTHING!"

" **If it's power that you want, I can help you with that.** " The voice stated seriously but calmly. Suddenly, a bright, pink and red light fills Lucy's vision, engulfing her with the righteous light.

* * *

Noirshiro raises their toy hammer up into the air, with joy as another execution is about to start. As they were about to slam it down, suddenly a burst of pink and red light slashes through the toy hammer and their throne in an instant.

Noirshiro, blinking in surprise at seeing their toy hammer being broken, quickly looked behind their throne and then towards the prisoners, where Noirshiro got the shock of their lives!

Lucy, who to Noirshiro, had just fallen over in despair when Noirshiro declared it was execution time, is now up on her feet and looking livid at Noirshiro. But the shocking this is the amount of changes that Lucy has suddenly gone through!

First of all, a pink-red quartz shaped cross is wrapped around her neck, glowing with energy. Her hair has turned from green to a scarlet red colour as her two red horns turned a cherry-blossom pink. Her irises, which were red, has turned a hot-pink colour, which a lava-red aura is flaming from her eyes.

What is also surprising is that Lucy is now holding a large sword, coloured in ruby red and pink lavender, with the blade coloured in the former and the hilt coloured in the latter. The sword itself resembles a 17th century cutlass, military standard but much bigger than the normal ones, about twice the size.

"What the hell?!" Noirshiro cried out in surprise, shocked on this new revelation. The grunts looked dumbfounded by this, along with Abby and Alastor, who the former is still on the floor. Ignatius looked very amazed by this as Sam and Charlotte smirked assuredly as Jack couldn't contain herself with excitement. Peter simply blinked in surprise. Noah, who had turned round, paled slightly as his eyes widened.

Lucy stepped forward, looking livid as her lava-red aura flowed with anger. "YOU'RE…. **NOT…GONNA** GET AWAY… **FROM THIS**!" she announced to Noirshiro as she continued to head towards their throne, voice beginning to distort as she said this.

The grunts, seeing that their prisoners are beginning to move, quickly pointed their guns at Lucy, preparing to shoot. "I warned you!" the Toxicroak shouted out loud, aiming at the transformed Lucy.

" **MATTA**!" a voice suddenly called out, cutting through the tension.

**SLASH!**

"BRAVE BIRD!"

Suddenly, all the guns that the Bisharp, Toxicroak and the Machamp were holding fell into tiny pieces almost instantly, if they've been cut up. The moment that they realized that their weapons have been destroyed, suddenly the Machamp gets tackled to the ground by Intoxiquer, who used Brave Bird on the grunt.

With that, Ignatius turns round and instantly kicks the Bisharp in the chest, causing to fly and crash into the crates. Panicking, the Toxicroak tried to flee only to be met with Kiri the Simipour, who's holding a katana, only the blade is sky-blue. Kiri's eyes are covered a silver aura while her hands are lit with a light grey-aura as the tips of her hair have turned silver.

"Konnichiwa, Dokurog-san." Kiri started with calm fury in her voice as she holds up the blade to the Toxicroak's throat. "Please stay still and don't attack. I rather not spill blood in front of my friends, arigatō gozaimasu!"

"KIRI, DON'T BE INTIMIDATING!" Intoxiquer yelled out, getting up from knocking down and out the Machamp as the Toxicroak gulped and nodded. Then, Amos appeared, looking calm as he held his cane over his shoulder. Using Psychic, he knocked out the Toxicroak instantly.

"Huh, looks like we arrived just in time. Good work there, Kiri." Amos complimented seriously but calm. Amos looked over to the group with some concern. "Looks like you lot have been through a lot! No wonder, being held at gunpoint…."

"Hey, there's a skeleton over here!" Intoxiquer called out, looking at the remains of the rocket. Amos nodded, taking in the situation at hand. He then saw the transformed Lucy stomping over to Noirshiro, who looks very frighten. Lucy even ignored her father, who got up from the chair.

"Wow, didn't expect an awakening today!" Amos remarked, surprised by this. He then turned to Kiri with a serious face. "Kiri, take Mrs Angelo and Master Angelo out of here, along with Peter and anyone else you think could help. Things are….about to get messy here….!"

"Wakarimasu!" Kiri stated seriously, with an uncharacteristic frown on her face. "Charlotte! Sam! Come with me!"

"RIGHT!" both the Charmeleon and the Poochyena declared, proceeding to follow Kiri along with Peter. Both Abby and Alastor, before they left, looked at the unfolding scene with worry before heading to the exit. Noirshiro did notice this though.

"HEY!" Noirshiro yelled out in annoyance, glaring at the retreating figures. "Where THE HELL do YOU think you're GOING?!"

Suddenly, Lucy raises her cutlass and cuts down with a beam of energy at Noirshiro in blind fury, causing the oddly-colour Umbreon to jump off their throne in fright, which the energy cuts the throne in half.

"MY THRONE!" Noirshiro yelled out in horror, seeing that their precious throne being destroyed as it fell into pieces. Noirshiro then glares at the transformed Kirlia. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT, YOU PUNK!"

Noirshiro then runs over to the group of mechas, and jumps into the black & white one, looking furiously at Lucy. "You ruin my execution….then MY THRONE?! How dare you! It's gonna make me feel good when I beat you into a pulp!" Noirshiro declared loudly and lividly, using the mecha's controls to move it over to Lucy. Pressing a button, a bunch of rockets in a launcher appeared behind Noirshiro as it came out from the back of the mecha, aiming at Lucy as the mecha stood in a fighting stance.

Noah went to step forward, but Ignatius stopped him, with a serious look. "You and I both know that we shouldn't disturb anyone during their awaking of their exorcist powers." He stated, seriously. "It's extremely dangerous, after all, for the Pokémon whose powers are awaking and those who attempt to stop it.

Noah nodded, looking completely uncertain by this. "I….forgot…. But I'm really worried…." He murmured to himself, anxiety rising in his chest. Suddenly, Intoxiquer flies over as Amos watched the scene.

"Don't worry, Noah! If your daughter gets TOO out of control, I'll just seal her until she comes down!" he remarked rather cheerfully, which was strange considering this is a situation that you shouldn't be cheerful in!

"SHUT UP!" Noirshiro barked at the group, furiously. "YOU LOT MESSED WITH MY PUNISHMENT AS WELL! ONCE I'M DONE HERE, YOU'RE NEXT!" Noirshiro then turned their attention to Lucy, who looked like she was ready to strike with the sword.

"Prepare to GET YOUR STUPID head knocked IN!" the twisted and oddly coloured Umbreon barked once more. "IT'S SHOWTIME, BABY!"

* * *

**Battle Start!**

**Lucy Angelo (?) VS Noirshiro Blanckuro!**

**Big Bang!**

**FIGHT!**

* * *

The fight commenced with Noirshiro's mecha firing the rockets at Lucy, who quickly dodged them by jumping to the left, causing the rockets to blow up some crates. Lucy then proceed to jump and slash at Noirshiro. However, the mecha caught Lucy's sword in mid-air.

This didn't stop Lucy from attacking. Using Teleport, Lucy disappeared and re-appeared above Noirshiro's head, stomping on the Umbreon's head. Once jumping off, Lucy's eyes darted over to see that Noirshiro became somewhat dizzy, with the mecha going around the place as the oddly coloured Umbreon's eyes were swirls. Noirshiro directed the mecha over to the other ones, crashing into them as they dropped the cutlass.

Lucy dashed over to grab the cutlass as Noirshiro got back up, recovering from the dizziness. In an instant, the mecha grabbed Lucy and threw her up into the air with her weapon. Once she was high in the air, Noirshiro's mecha raises its arms into the air, creating a ball of energy and throws it at Lucy.

The transformed pink and red Kirlia sees the ball of energy heading towards her as she falls back down to the ground. Using the cutlass, Lucy cuts the ball of energy into a thousand pieces, though some of it does hit and hurt her. The rest, after a few seconds, promptly explodes and causes her to shoot right for Noirshiro.

Using her cutlass, Lucy uses it to directly stab the mecha in its chest, causing a critical hit! And it was super effective as well! Video game jokes aside, Noirshiro's head darts around in panic as the mecha explodes as Lucy takes the red and pink cutlass out of the mecha. Causing massive damage, Noirshiro grins with some blood coming out of their mouth as they got up from the explosion.

"Hey, not bad, lass! I can't wait….to see you with despair as you DIE!" Noirshiro stated, jumping into another mecha, activing it and making it stand up. This time, Noirshiro presses multiply buttons, shooting out bullets, rockets and flamethrowers at Lucy.

The transformed Lucy dodges the bullets by ducking to the right to avoid them. Seeing that the rockets are chasing her, Lucy dashes over to circle round Noirshiro and their newly acquired mecha. The said oddly coloured Umbreon uses the flamethrower to try and burn the pink Kirlia.

Being scorched by the flamethrower as she ran into it accidently, Lucy saw an opportunity to jump over the mecha and took it. She leapt over the mecha, causing the twisted Umbreon to look confused on what's happening. Then the rockets that has been chasing Lucy collided with Noirshiro's mecha, exploding on impact.

With the mecha staggering from the attack as Noirshiro struggling to keep the mecha under control, suddenly blue balls of energy shoot out from the mecha's claw-like hands towards the group, who had retreated back a little to make sure they weren't caught through the attack. Lucy leapt in front of them to deflect the attack up into the air using the cutlass. The balls of energy soon exploded afterwards.

Regaining control of the mecha, Noirshiro guides the damaged machine to grab Lucy. However, the transformed Kirlia predicted when the robotic arm was about to strike and jumped out of the way. Before Noirshiro could guide the mecha back up, Lucy sliced the arm in front of her off, causing even more damage to the mecha.

Lucy then uses the red and pink cutlass to produce a beam of energy to damage the core of the mecha, causing it to become unstable. Lucy then jumped away from the mecha as Noirshiro look horrified as the mecha brilliantly explodes, throwing the twisted Umbreon up into the air.

With a terrified screech, Noirshiro crashes to the ground, unconscious when they hit the floor.

* * *

**VICTORY!**

**THE WINNERS ARE: Lucy Angelo (?)!**

* * *

Breathing deep in and out, Lucy falls to the floor, breathing heavily as her transformation wears off, turning her back to normal. The cross that appeared during her transformation is still there but isn't glowing anymore, simply wrapped around Lucy's neck. Once back in her normal state, Lucy looked round, confused. "Where….am…..I…..?" she asked, as Noah rushed over to her, to comfit her.

"Don't worry, Lucy…. I'm here…" he remarked calmly, holding his daughter tight carefully. "We're safe now…."

"Oh…good….." Lucy murmured as she fell asleep, tired out from what happened. Intoxiquer, Ignatius and Amos walked over calmly, with Amos holding a blanket. Noah took the blanket and wrapped it around Lucy, to help her sleep better.

"Well, that went well." Amos stated seriously, looking at the peacefully-sleeping Kirlia, and the red-pink quartz cross around her neck. "I got to see what was causing the Corruptors to attack the hotel, got to see one of my adopted sons after all these years and his daughter, got to see the awaking of said daughter and a glorious battle as well!"

Intoxiquer gazed at the cross with some curious intent. "The 'Quartz Cross of Love'? I haven't seen that cross being activated in ages! I think the last time I saw it being used was…."

"When Ashley was still alive….." Ignatius went sadly, thinking of the past. He then shook his head, and the said vicar Blaziken looked over to the unconscious Umbreon, laying on the ground. "We should tie up that stupid Umbreon and hand them over to the police. He'll….she'll…. I can't really tell, but Noirshiro will pay for the crimes that they committed!"

Intoxiquer nodded. "I'll go find some rope! According to Stringslicer, you lot were tied up with rope, so there MUST be some nearby!" the Intoxiquer announced loudly. "We'll drag them to the police station!"

"You'll do no such thing." A rather feminine voice announced out to the conscious Pokémon. All of a sudden, a Greninja appeared behind Noirshiro and as swiftly as the Greninja appeared, she picked up the oddly colour Umbreon up. Nothing much can be told from the Greninja, apart from the fact that there's two cherry flowers behind her ears.

"Greetings." The Greninja went, calmly. "I am Sakura. I am an associate of Noirshiro and as such, I cannot let you capture them."

"Wait, what?!" Intoxiquer yelled out angrily, confused by this. "If you knew that Noirshiro was doing this, why didn't you stop them?!"

"It was part of Phase one of the organization that I work for's plan." Sakura simply went, being mysterious as she appeared. "What that plan is, I cannot tell, but Noirshiro is a key player in it."

"What organization?!" Ignatius yelled, angry that such a company would do this to the public. Greninja stares emotionless at Ignatius for a few seconds.

"We are Team Spectrum. That's all I got to say." Sakura replied, wistfully. She then raises her arm up into the air. "Farewell for now."

Sakura then threw a smoke grenade onto the floor, which promptly explodes on impact. With the group startled to see that the Greninja used such a technique, they were even more to see that Sakura and Noirshiro had disappeared once the smoke cleared.

As the afternoon became the evening slowly but surely, the group that was on the rooftop proceeded to head to the exit to re-join the other group, with a heavy heart and many questions in their mind.

Who are Team Spectrum? And what do they want with the Corrupted? Why were they going to such lengths to get the Corrupted? And what of the helicopter that went?

* * *

**A lot of hours later…**

Fresh from shooting and murdering Amos with the gun, the mysterious Pokémon walked towards the glow with a small smile on his face. With the dirt getting crushed under their feet, the Pokémon greets the glow like they're an old friend.

"Ah…there you are!" the Pokémon exclaimed, happy to see the glow. "After all these years, it's a pleasure to meet you…. Wrathfire!"

* * *

**Į̗̠̠͜ ̨̞̲͚͍͢A̟̘͈M̧̡̩̰̻͎̠͎̳͞ ̟̮A̛̰̘̫͙̘͎͕͘͢C̮͈͖̥̰̜̙̫̭͞C͍̩͇͙͚͟E̗̖̬̱̝͕̘P̡̧̩͍͇͍T̶̜͙͕̘̼A̧͇̖͟͞Ṉ̨̖̭͇̣̜̗͠ͅC̴̛̬̺E҉̦͈͉͎**

I̴͙̬̜͢͝ ̶̨͏̯̱̣̭̩̤A͎̗̹̪̘͎̯̤M̸̦̮̞̠͠ ̞̗̺͔̳̀͢W̷̫̟̰͍R̲̣̙A҉̨͇̭̟̹̳̜T̷̳͈̻̺͕̥̬͠H̜̗̖͉͓͙͟F̡̯̦͖̭͎͖̟̯͡I̹̺̲̱̱̲̥͘͞R̶̙̦E͍̜̹̹̮̟͘  
̡̖͝ **̶̼̦̖̩̭A̸̺͙͠N̝̙͇͎̙̫͘D͖̪̪̣̝̰̲̝ ͇̱̯͓̟͡͝͞I͏̶̬̗ ҉̨̧̺̜͉̣̜̘̜W͟҉̳̩̙̬̪̳I̻̠̝̳L̡͎̕L̠͈̼͇̪͞ͅ ̴̧͈̳͔̻̘̥̘H̬̰̪̠͙Ą̷͚̙̘ͅV̡̮̩̀̕E̤̠͔̥͉̰͇̘̕ ̷̵̢̥̘͉͚̻̻M̸̠͖̠̀͢Y̸̛҉͇̜͈͎̹̖̞ͅ ̼̠̠̭̮̬̰̞R̺̜̭͇͓͜E̸̤̲̙̺͙͘͟ͅV̯͉͎̯͉͘̕E̻̹͔̣̤ͅN̨̟̪͟͡Ǵ̱̹̬̙̬̙͈͡E͏̧̺͉̤̱̼**

* * *

**End of Arc 1.**


	14. Heart to heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the battle at the top of the hotel, Lucy falls unconcious, and has strange visions along the way.....

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 13:**

**Heart to heart**

* * *

**And now it's time for another episode of Noirshiro Theatre!**

The cartoon cut-out of Noirshiro the Umbreon appeared on a cartoon like stage. A cartoon heart appears to the right of Noirshiro as their head bobbed side to side.

"What is love?" Noirshiro questioned curiously, despite the fact that their face is showing no emotion. "Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more!

Songs aside, I never actually understood the concept of love in this world. How is it that we sacrifice so much just for another being, when they're just gonna die regardless? I mean, if someone had the chance to be successful in life, reigning over others and will have a great life but didn't because their 'loved one' say that was bad, why should that someone listen to that crap?!

To me, if I had the chance to spread despair all over the planet, I would do it in an instance! Screw who ever cared for me when I was only a little Eevee, I do what I want! We should all revert back to the prehistoric times, when it was everyone 'Mon for themselves!"

**And now back to our regular programming!**

* * *

_Day to night_

_Dark to light_

_Fall the sands of time_

"Argh!" Lucy gasped for air, suddenly awaking within the dark void that she had previous been in before her fight with Noirshiro. Startled by this, Lucy got up and looked around with confusion.

"Where am I?" Lucy goes, thinking to herself curiously whilst still looking round. "There's nothing but darkness….." After that sentence left her mouth, Lucy's head started to pound heavily, splitting with more and more intensity as time went on. After a while, the pain died down, though the dull pain still filled her head.

"Oh yeah…." Lucy goes, holding her head as her eyes were closed. "I….remember now….that voice…when Dad was about to be killed…..what happened afterwards….?"

Lucy then began to panic, as the memories stopped right there after the voice in the void called out to her. "D-D-dad!" she cried out into the darkness, terrified for her father's wellbeing.

_Let the years_

_Like the gears_

_Of a clock unwind_

" **FREAK!** "

This sudden yell from the darkness startled Lucy, as she looked round to see where it came from. It was not a voice that she recognized at all. " _What was that?_ " she thought to herself, curiously and confusingly.

" **UGLY!** "

" **YOU HORRIBLE LITTLE THING!** "

" **ABOMINATION!** "

" **YOU'RE AN ATROCITY!** "

The young Kirlia looked around with more and more confusion on her mind. She had been insulted before by being….well, you can probably guess what it is, but she's never been called _these_ insults before! So why is she hearing them now?

"P-p-p-please…." A small voice goes, sobbing quietly in the void. Lucy, startled by this, turns round to see a little Eevee crying onto the floor, back to the said Kirlia. "P-p-p-please…..l-l-l-leave…. m-me a-alone…."

Lucy, unsure on what's happening, begins to approach the Eevee. "Um…." Lucy goes, nervous to say something. "A-are you alright?"

The Eevee, upon hearing Lucy asking that question to it, immediately stopped sobbing. Ears twitching a little bit, the Eevee turns their head to the right to stare at Lucy. The said Kirlia gasped in horror as the Eevee's right eye looks like exactly like Noirshiro's right eye, a red slash in place of a normal eye. Still glare hauntingly at Lucy, the Eevee asked the following question while their body begins to twitch and spasm out of control:

" **W̠̲̪̯͕͚̱H̢̦̗̻O҉̤̞͎̣̮̯̥͝ ͝҉̣͙̭̞͚̥͎Ą̴̺͔́R̢̜̭E͙͉͍͙̺̥ ̥̣͞Ý̧͏͙͇͚̜̩̙O̶̟̖̥̰̤͡͠U̦̠̯̤͘ ̢̠̹̜͙̘̱T͉̹͙̣̠̱̼̺Ǫ̢̟̯ ̶͎͞A̵͓͎̥̭S͜҉̥͖̣͎̞K̶̷͕̞̥̺̯͕͖͠ ̨̩̥̯̤̜͓͙́I̞̣̺F̜̠̻̙̻̤͢ ̸̦͎̥̻I̞͉͓̫̘̩̻͟͜ ̢̛̲̞̟̘Á̰̰̱̟̩̜M̮̲̠͘͠ ̷̞̯͚̪̮̲͖͜A̢̫̦͙͎͚̲͙ͅL̜̫̼L̴̳̼̥̱̩͙̣͠͞ ̵͉̪̖͎̹͉͞Ŗ̷̶̻̮I̛͇͉̩̣̗̮̳̝͟Ģ͓̗̱Ḥ̲̲̘̻̭͖̗T̴̮̰͉̝͕͞?̦͉͙͇̮̠͘͝ͅ!̛̘̫͇͓͉̬̱̩** "

Frightened by this as she fell to the floor, Lucy watched in horror as the Eevee's face begins to distort and whiten almost straight away, turning the Eevee's face into a monstrous yellow Corruptor mask. The rest of the Eevee's body fades into the darkness, as the spiked, corrupted beast of a mask's mouth area distorted itself into a grin.

"Upu…upu…upu…." The mask laughs as it too fades into the darkness. Terrified, Lucy curled up into the ball, traumatized by this. Closing her eyes, she wished she never saw that…..

* * *

" **Don't worry, it's over now. The scary Eevee is gone."**

Lucy's eyes opened quickly, to look around her. To her surprise, the dark, bleak void has been replaced with a variant of different colours, constantly changing. Orange to blue, then to green then yellow, red, purple, all the colours that you can think of, it will be there. The void had turned more cheerful, if something kind was there.

"Huh?" Lucy went, confused and still scared. "W-w-who's there?" The scared Kirlia then heard a small sigh, if relieved of something.

" **Ah, you're awake now! Glad to know! I thought for a moment that you were too traumatize to even respond!** " a somewhat young male voice remarked, rather cheerfully. Lucy, still nervous, looked around again. **"I see that you're still afraid. Do not worry, I'm just here to see if you're all right!"**

Lucy, calming down a little due to the voice's sincerity, nodded. "W-who are you?" she questioned to the voice. "Are you the voice who called out to me before? Is my dad all right?!"

" **Your father is fine, as far as I'm aware of."** The voice replied, calmly and rather light-hearted. **"And no, I am not the voice who called you out before. That was something else as far as I am aware of….** "

Lucy nodded, still somewhat confused. "So, who are you?" she asked once more, not knowing who the voice is. The voice sighs, somewhat sadly.

" **I….don't know actually. I can't seem to remember what my name is but I think I forgot what it was from a long, long time ago. I'm not sure what that name was, but I have a few ideas on what it is…."** The voice explained, sounding somewhat distantly. **"But in the end, I don't really know…."**

"Tell me what your main idea on what your name is!" Lucy stated seriously and sincerely at the same time, though it could come off as somewhat comedic.

" **What?"** the voice goes, confused by how now it's doing the questioning, instead of the other way round. Lucy nodded, looking determined as her hands were near her chest. "Tell me what the main idea you have is!" she somewhat repeated to the voice, rewording her sentence to establish her point.

The voice stayed quiet for a few seconds, probably bewildered by this. **"Hmm…."** The voice goes, trying to think. **"My best guess would have to be…. Caleb. That's what I think my name was, but I'm not sure…."**

Lucy thought for a moment, then smiled. "Please to meet you Caleb!" she stated out cheerfully. Her face then turned to one of confusion. "Wait, where am I? And how are you speaking to me without a body? Are you even real?"

Caleb chuckled a little, evident from the small laughter that Lucy heard. **"You're very quirky, aren't you? Anyway, I'm communicating through to you via a dream."** Caleb explained mysteriously. **"That's where you are. As for me, I'm not sure if I'm real anymore or not….."**

Lucy said nothing, gaining a concerned expression as she listen to Caleb's voice talk. **"But anyway, there's a reason I'm talking to you via this dream Lucy."** Caleb affirmed with a serious tone in his voice. Lucy frowned, blinking.

"What is it?" she questioned curiously. Caleb could be heard sighing, taking in confidence along with whatever he breaths. What do you actually breathe in a dream?

" **I'm here to give you a warning."** Caleb warned with serious intent. **"A great calamity is approaching. One that will tear through everything, and the main cause of it is going to appear soon.** "

"Wait, what?!" Lucy goes, startled by this warning. As Caleb continues to speak, his voice begins to fade away.

" **You….need….to…stop….** " Caleb goes, voice fading away. Lucy tried her best to listen to what Caleb was trying to say. "Please speak up! I can't HEAR YOU!" Lucy yelled out, eyes closed as her face intensified with concentration. Before Caleb's voice faded out, he manage to say one thing:

"… **Wrath…..fire….."**

* * *

"ARGH!" Lucy yelled out, suddenly shooting up from where she was lying down on. Blinking, Lucy looked around to find herself in an unfamiliar house, lying on what appears to be a sofa. It appears where Lucy was lying on, a makeshift bed was made, with a pillow behind her and a duvet covering her. The duvet has a cover over it which depicts an old TV show's main character, the Teenage Monster Shinobi Squirtles.

Lucy looked round the unfamiliar setting, which has very poor lighting due to it being night time. The only light source Lucy can see, which took her a while to get the said Kirlia's eyes used to, is a lamp in the corner behind the sofa. Lucy can see a very startled Sam backing away, probably surprised at her sudden yelp out from her awaking.

"Holy guacamole of the jallo molely!" the said shocked Poochyena remarked, sitting on his hind legs as his front paws backed into the sofa. From the small indents of the sofa, it appears that Sam was sleeping there, probably guarding Lucy as she slept. "You startled me! Don't do that to me, see?!"

Lucy gained a confused and unsure expression on her face. "Why are you rhyming?" she questioned, completely confused by this. Sam, calming down by putting his paws down on the sofa sighed, a small blush of embarrassment on his face could be seen.

"I….tend to rhyme when I get startled…." Sam confessed, looking embarrassed as he said that. He shook his head, and then turned his attention back to Lucy. "It's a good thing you're awake now. How are you feeling?"

Lucy thought for a moment, then responded with: "I got a bit of a headache now that you ask. I also feel VERY hungry…." She honestly replied to Sam's question, looking around. "What time is it, anyway?"

Sam chuckled a little, pointing towards a small table that was besides the said Kirlia. "That's typical, what you've been through! There's a bento box on that table. Kiri left it for you when you would wake up…." Sam stated wistfully, smirking a little. "And to answer your question, it's about two in the morning!"

"WHAT?!" Lucy slightly raising her voice, shocked to hear this revelation. "What happened?! Last time I checked we were in the afternoon of Sunday, on top of the hotel with…that Umbreon! What happened?!"

Sam frowned a little, nodding a little as Lucy reached for her bento box. "Well, Lucy, you had something that we exorcists call an 'awakening'." The said Poochyena affirmed seriously. Lucy cocked her head to the left slightly in confusion, not sure what that's sure what that's supposed to mean.

Sam laughed a little, looking at Lucy's face which soon scowled upon hearing the Poochyena's laughter. "Don't mind me! I'm just surprised that you never heard of it! I could tell by the expression on your face!"

"Well, excuse me for not knowing that my ability to see the dead WAS an ability and not a mental condition!" Lucy remarked, bitter by what Sam had said. Speaking of which, Sam frowned himself, nodding.

"Touché. You got me there…." Sam bluntly stated, looking annoyed at himself. "Might as well explain what an awakening is to you. You deserve to know regardless. You DID just go through one!"

As Lucy digs into her food, Sam explained away. "Basically, an awakening is what we exorcists refer to when a Pokémon's spiritual powers begins to appear. Usually, when a Pokémon 'awakens', their spiritual becomes a brutal raw power, which can cause the awakened Pokémon to go on a bit of a rampage! Luckily, that only happens then and then. Once an awakened Pokémon uses up all the raw energy that comes with their newly released powers, the power down and majority of the time black out."

Sam raises a paw to point at Lucy, who becomes surprised by this. "The reason why you're lying there is that your spiritual powers have awakened inside of you. That's why you have a slight headache, have a gap in your memory and feeling very hungry. They're side effects to the awakening of your spiritual powers! According to Intoxiquer, you used your awakened powers to defeat Noirshiro…." Sam explained diligently. Lucy nodded, understanding this very clearly.

"I see…" Lucy goes, thinking carefully. "Does that mean I'm a superhero now? Can I fly? Can I shoot laser beams from my eyes?"

Sam chuckled a little. "Damn, you remind me of Jack saying that when she was recovering from her awakening!" the said Poochyena stated, feeling nostalgic. He then shook his head. "To answer your three questions at once, I don't actually know. Everyone's spiritual powers vary, so you COULD fly, however, you could also NOT fly, you know what I'm saying? It depends on what cross that appears when you awaken."

Slurping down some noodles, Lucy blinked in confusion. "Cross? What cross? I'm not religious! Though at the same time, I'm not an atheist either…."

"There's these Christian crosses in our world that have mystical and spiritual powers…." Sam went, glancing over to the darkness for a moment, then back to Lucy. "Nobody knows where they come from nor where they go, but all I know is are they the source of the Exorcist's spiritual powers."

"How do you get one, actually?" Lucy questioned curiously, wanting to know about this more.

"Well, nobody knows the exact details on how to obtain them as there have been many different users throughout history dating even before the Plasma event…. But there are some conditions on how to obtain it." Sam explained even more, seriously. "First of all, it picks you, not the other way round. Something to do with destiny…..whatever, I don't believe that Tauros-crap but apparently that's an condition…..!"

Lucy remained silently as she saw Sam silently snarl and growl to himself, before he lighted up and continued.

"The second condition is that you must have the ability to see ghosts and Corruptors in order to have one and the last condition is that you have an extremely high amount of a certain feeling to have it come to you. As I mean an extremely high amount, which I mean a dangerously high amount. Usually a dangerous situation will bring out the crosses."

"What do you mean by a certain feeling?" she questioned to Sam, utterly confused by this. Sam paused for a moment then pointed again at the small table again.

"See that cross there? That's yours." He stated, starting off calmly. Lucy, glancing over to the small table, gasped in surprise to see a red and pink coloured crystal shaped into a cross with a grey chain around it. Leaning over and picking it up, Lucy inspects it intently.

"That's the Quartz Cross of Love." Sam explained simply, looking serene as Lucy looked at him with more confusion. "Like I said, when an exorcist is awakening, depending on what they're feeling at the time, the cross that corresponds with that feeling will appear to them. For example, you were feeling dangerous amounts of family love to your father as he was about to be killed. Thus, the Quartz Cross of Love, which appears to users who feel dangerous amounts of family love, appeared to you, Lucy. Is that understandable?"

Lucy nodded, placing the cross down on her duvet. "Yeah, it's clearer to me now…." She replied softly. Sam nodded, looking somewhat happy that she understands. Lucy glanced over to Sam's black cross, which is hanging from his neck.

"Um….what's your cross's power then?" Lucy asked one more question again, trying to not be too nosey. Sam glances down to his cross then looked back up.

"I am the holder of the Black Cross of Denial." Sam replied somewhat bitterly, feeling mysterious to Lucy. "I was feeling a dangerous amount of denial when I got this cross, and I don't want to talk about why I was feeling it, okay?!"

Flinching at Sam's sudden snapping at her, Lucy watched Sam's bitter face soften and look mournful. He then sighed, hinting sadness in his voice. "I'm sorry about that Lucy…." Sam admitted sadly, looking away as his eyes went down. "I'm….just not good with other Pokémon I don't know that much…."

"It's okay!" Lucy went hastily, trying to cheer up the sad Poochyena sitting in front of her. "I'm somewhat like that as well, though I do just ignore them most of the time….."

"That's not exactly like I am but I do believe you and I do thank you trying to cheer me…." Sam injected quickly, not looking as sad. "…..but when I was younger, I did not have a good experience with strangers….."

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?" the young, somewhat filled Kirlia asked to Sam with a curious but dreadful feeling inside of her body.

"To cut a long story short, a stranger tricked me in letting out a bunch of yellow Corruptors from the cage that Spirit-Realm had captured for training….." Sam started, beginning to shake as the memories in his mind begin to flow. "…..A-a-and….i-i-in turn, the C-C-Corruptors…..went and killed a bunch of i-i-innocent citizens…."

Lucy gasped in horror as Sam continues to remember what happened all those years ago. Suddenly, Sam shook his head, not wanting to talk about that part of his past all those years ago. "I don't want to talk about that anymore…." He remarked, bluntly. He then looked up to Lucy, expression softening.

"But, I do want to say sorry for what I snapped at you at the hotel…." The Poochyena explained diligently, surprising Lucy. "It was….out of line for me…. I didn't know what your situation was clearly and….I ….deeply regret what I said about you and your father….. I had a bad experience with my own and….. I didn't think your father was a good Pokémon. I can see now that's wrong. Your father is a good Pokémon, wanting only the best for you…. Being an exorcist is tough work, even more depending on what guild you are in but having your father at Phantasm and acting the way he is now…. That's understandable to me and the rest of Spirit-Realm…."

Sam went silently for a moment then chuckled a little. "I'm just rambling here….. What I'm trying to say here is….. I'm sorry for acting like a jerk to you and your brother. I can see you're good Pokémon and I want to get to know you two better."

"….Are you trying to hit on me?" Lucy bluntly questioned to Sam, who tensed up almost instantly and blushed a deep scarlet red.

"WHAT?!" Sam almost yelled out, in shock of this question. "NO! NO I DON'T! WHAT GAVE YOU THE IDEA OF THAT?!"

Then, Lucy giggled softly, catching the Poochyena off guard. "…..Don't worry, I'm only teasing you!" Lucy commented, through her honest laughter. Seeing Sam startled with confusion, Lucy continued. "Isn't that what friends do? Teasing each other? I already forgive you!"

Sam's startled face remained for a few seconds then soften a little. He chuckled to himself, head turned to the side to think of something. "Yeah….."

Lucy smiled for a moment, then remembered something from her dream. That name that was mentioned….

"Hey, Sam…." Lucy started, curiously, which then caught Sam's attention. "Can I just ask you one more question?"

"It's fine, what is it?" Sam replied, his curiosity beginning to peak. The young Kirlia paused for a moment, unsure to ask this question before doing so anyway.

"Have…you heard of someone or something called 'Wrathfire'?" she questioned to Sam, interested to see where this is going. Sam's curious expression turned serious, frowning a little.

"I've only heard it in whisperings around Spirit-Realm, but yes, I have heard of 'Wrathfire'. However, I don't know WHAT it is…." He stated, looking rather grim. "All I know about it is that it lies somewhere in the town's area, and that's about it. My question is, how do you, with you, no offence, being an outsider to the guild, know about that name?"

Lucy then frowned herself, looking intently at her red and pink cross. "I….don't actually know. I….had this…dream, I think? A voice within it said something… it said to 'stop Wrathfire'…."

Sam nodded, thinking intently. "A voice within dreams, huh? I heard that's a rarity amongst exorcists." He remarked carefully. "Personally, I haven't had one myself, but I think Kiri knows about voices within dreams mean…. Maybe she knows who Wrathfire is….."

Sam then shook his head, and then yawned a little. "Anyway, let's gets some sleep here….. Ignatius and your parents have a lot of things planned for tomorrow….don't….want…." Sam said, rather sleepily as he begins to drift off. "….to….be…..tired….zzzzzzzzzzzz…."

Seeing Sam fall asleep, Lucy feels rather sleepy herself. Using her Psychic powers, Lucy turns off the lamp behind the sofa off, before getting comfortable herself to head back to sleep. For a few seconds, Lucy gets this sudden strange case of Déjà vu. Shaking off this feeling, Lucy softly returns back to the world of dreams, this time with a more restful sleep.

Unknowing to Lucy, near the darken doorway before the stairs which is outside the current room, Alastor was sitting there, listening to the whole conversation from when Lucy woke up. He happened to be there as he was getting some water to drink. Hearing the conversation cheered him up a little to hear that his sister is all right, along with getting some information about her new powers. With that, he heads back upstairs, curious about who Wrathfire is as well.

Once reaching upstairs, Alastor goes to head over to his temporary bed on the landing. Flopping on his makeshift bed, Alastor put his flippers behind his head as he stares at the ceiling.

"… _..Looks like I am really selfish, aren't I?_ " he thought to himself, somewhat bitterly. " _Lucy's condition tormented her with visions of the dead for years, and she and I didn't even know that…. I've felt envy on the attention she gets, but I wasn't seeing the whole truth of the deal…. There are others like her, gone through less or even worse situations than her… Meanwhile, I'm just selfishly wanting attention, not knowing what others have been through….. How can I get rid of this selfish feeling….?_

… _Can I also get these powers….the Exorcist powers….? Maybe….I'll…ask…..tomorrow….."_

Soon, Alastor drifts off to an uneasy sleep, in stark contrast of his sister's.

* * *

**Meanwhile…..**

* * *

The corpse of Amos lies on the darkened ground, motionless as the gentle breeze flows through the blacken forest, draped with darkness as the glow that was there had disappeared. Blood has ceased to flow out of Amos, having been drained of his blood. A blood splatter is on the ground where he lays.

Suddenly, the Weavile Corruptor appeared, looking mysteriously as she approached the body with a sad expression on her mask. She sighed, sounding rather bitter. "Hmm….. Guess I was too late to stop this…." The oddly coloured Corruptor remarked, sadness in her voice. She looked up, where deeper within the forest the source of the glow was.

"Looks like Wrathfire is out again…." She affirmed to herself, trying and succeeding not to panic. "I should REALLY stop being late…. All well….."

The Weavile raised her ghostly white claw. "That house should slow him down again but it would be inevitable for them to go there….. Not matter what, they all seem to head there not matter how I try to change things…. I need to go warn the communities…." She told herself, rather jumpily. "I also need to go drop off that note to the police station….and the guild….. I need to find a solution…..!"

Turning round, the blue-striped Corruptor stopped for a moment. "Wait…..that Kirlia….. every time…..she's always….. but if I save her from being….. it might actually…." The Weavile murmured to herself, in rather insane jumps in her speech. Her mask then turns into a joyful grin.

"It might work….. then this….can end!" the Weavile gleefully told itself, spinning around on the spot. "…..It'll be the end of this whole torment! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The mask of the Weavile then changed into a deviously grin. "I'll make it work…. I'll determined…. Envchill's plan will work! AHAHAHAHA!"

Envchill then clicked her claws, causing her to disappear from view, leaving the body where it is in the dark, lifeless forest of where terrible things are born.

* * *

**To be continued….**


	15. In memory of my friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It appears that the discovery of what happened to Amos has been made very clear.....

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 14:**

**In memory of my friend**

* * *

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Kiri knocked on the door to the back of the bookshop, early in the morning after the attack on the hotel by Noirshiro of the so called 'Team Spectrum', as much as Intoxiquer-San had told her.

Intoxiquer is one of the main leaders of Spirit-Realm along with Ignatius and two other members, who are currently away at the moment doing research on a supernatural related matter, with Amos being the head and overall leader of Spirit-Realm. Since Kiri is very close to Intoxiquer, along with being a member of said guild, which means she knows most of what the guild is doing day to day, with the rest of the information only being only known to the leaders.

Currently, Kiri is politely knocking on the door to ask to come into the back of the shop. Intoxiquer went out extremely early in the morning and just recently arrived back. Hearing no reply from her knocking, the said Simipour looked round quickly, to see anyone was around.

"Otōsan!" Kiri called cheerfully through the door. "I'm coming, okay?"

With no reply coming from the door, Kiri goes to open it and walked into the back of the shop. At the little table in the little living area that they have, Kiri sees the Crobat sat there on the ground, wings spread out in shock and sadness as tears run down on the characteristically annoyed Crobat.

Seeing that her boss and one of the closest Pokémon to her cry in sadness, Kiri rushed over in shock. She had NEVER ever seen Intoxiquer break down in tears like this before!

"Otōsan!" Kiri remarked, startled by this, pure horror on her face as she tries to console Intoxiquer. Through tears, Intoxiquer turns his wet, unnaturally upset face towards his young Simipour employee.

"I-I-I'm… *shudder* c-c-c-calling a m-m-meeting…e-e-e-everyone….." Intoxiquer stuttered in distress, eyes red from the tears. From what Kiri could tell from the Crobat's voice, he seemed to be in grief. "…..t-t-t-to….. g-gather a-a-at the g-guild…..T-t-there's some t-t-terrible news…."

"What news?" Kiri questioned, cocking her head slightly to the right as she was confused by this. "Wakarimasen…"

Intoxiquer gulped a little, rubbing away his tears though more still flowed down. "…..Something….has happened to a dear friend of mine…..a dear friend to the guild….everyone needs to know…" Intoxiquer quivered softly, turning his gaze away from Kiri. "Alert everyone. Even the Angelo family. Noah needs to know. Ignatius needs to know."

Intoxiquer got up, and began to fly over to the door with a determined look. "I'll be over in about an hour, Kiri….. I… need…. To go tell Peter and his parents….."

* * *

**Half an hour later….**

* * *

"You know…." Noah started feeling nostalgic, coming down from the ladder into the Spirit-Realm guild hall. Abby, Alastor and Lucy had come down before him, looking within the underground building of Spirit-Realm, all looking inquisitively at the sight of the guild while Sam smirked a little, guiding the Angelo family. "….It's been roughly around sixteen years since I've been here…. Looks like a lot has change! I feel….very nostalgic here…"

Lucy looked around the main hall of Spirit-Realm, with an impressed look on her face. The hall is a somewhat large area with many different entrances into other rooms. The walls of the area are coloured a light purple for the north area (which the Angelos entered from) which transitions in a dark navy blue colour in the south of the hall. Towards the south-west area of the hall, an opening towards another room can be seen, which Lucy sees multiply doors from that opening. From the evidence that she sees, that must be the dorms of Spirit-Realms permanent residents.

Looking towards the north west of the room, Lucy sees a large kitchen area, where the scent of delicious food can be traced back to. Occasionally, Lucy saw a Magmortar preparing something in the kitchen, but then disappeared out of view.

To the north of the hall, near the entrance, is a large closed wooden door with a plaque with an inscription on it, which says ' _Guildmaster's Room'_. To the south east of the hall, a set of spiral staircases can be seen, going down further underground. A golden but well damaged plaque above the entrance to the stairs says ' _Training Hall'._ To the north east of the room, an entrance to what appears to be a library can be seen, where a Bellossom sporting thick-rimmed glasses can be seen reading on of the books.

Finally, to the south of the hall, one more entrance can be seen, which leads into a breakroom. Lucy can see multiple differently coloured beanbags spread around that room, including a TV. From what she can see, a Quagsire is sitting on one of the beanbags listening what was on the TV in silence.

In the dead centre of the hall is a large oak table with oak chairs. They're made of oak, not space mahogany!

"It must be!" Sam remarked, grinning cheerfully as he guided the defiantly not space mahogany chairs, for the Angelo to sit on. Once they have taken their seats, Sam then frowned. "Though, I'm not sure WHY Intoxiquer requested you four here. No offence, but meetings are for the members of the guild only, so I'm kinda confused on that…."

"Personally, I don't know myself…." Came a voice, calmly but somewhat teasingly. Everyone turned to see Ignatius and Jack approaching them, who then took a seat. "….but my brother is a former member, and happens to be nearby as well, so it could be that!"

Jack, who was sat next to Lucy and Alastor, grinned somewhat sleepily. "Aye, 'hat could be it! It fiercely fun 'aving a sleepover again, even though 'hat Lucy was unconscious…" Jack commented, rather cheerfully despite the fact that the thing she just said was a bit negative.

"Oh!" Abby goes, remembering something. She then turns to Ignatius, who is sat next to Noah. "I've been meaning to say, thank you for allowing our family to stay at your home for the night!"

Ignatius shrugged, looking cheerful as he did that. "No problem there, Abby." He affirmed there, calmly. "You, my brother and your children can stay at my place for the rest of your holiday. I don't think the hotel is stable enough to go back… especially after the Corruptor attack and that weird Umbreon…."

"It's a good thing that they allowed you and some other members to go back in to go back in to retrieve our suitcases…." Noah stated seriously whilst glancing down at his still injured but mostly healed flipper, then turning to Ignatius with a sincere look. "…. I have to thank you there brother, I do appreciate everything that you've done for us."

Ignatius nodded, with a calm look on his face. "It's nothing, really… I should be thanking you, Noah…" the vicar Blaziken retorted quietly, a swelling of gratefulness in his chest arising. "After all, it was you who saved my life at Phantasm…. If you didn't forcibly dragged me out of there, I…. don't what I would be doing today…."

"Eh, let's not talk about that…." Sam quickly interrupted in, looking around with a confused look on his face. "Wait, where's Charlotte?"

"Right here!" called another voice, filled with joy. Everyone turned to see Charlotte Coco the Charmeleon heading towards them, cross hanging from her neck. With a somewhat snarky grin on her face, she took a seat next to Jack. "How are you lot doing today, then?"

A few murmurs of 'fine' and 'okay' soon followed Charlotte's question, which ended with Alastor looking very annoyed for some reason. "Well, I'm feeling REALLY hot and bothered today! Is something off with the weather or not?!" he questioned, his feathers ruffled in annoyance. "Because, I swear the weather forecast yesterday said it was going cool today!"

Now that Lucy thinks about it, she did hear somewhere just before the holiday started, it was forecasted to be cool on this particular day. Maybe they got it wrong…..

Charlotte frowned, looking confused. "It's hot? I haven't noticed…" she remarked, surprised by this. Sam chuckled a little, which caught Charlotte off guard. "What are you laughing at?"

"Well, it's not surprising that you haven't notice! You're a fire type after all!" Sam cheekily replied, with a mischievous smirk on his face, glancing over to Jack as he said this. "And to top it off, you cook for your job, of course you wouldn't feel the heat! You'll get used to it!"

"EEP!" Charlotte went, looking horrified as her claws went up to her face to produce a comical horrified look. Charlotte then comically falls off her chair.

Confused by this, Lucy turned to see Jack chuckling a little. "Don't worry about 'hat, feek!" she stated, looking very relaxed. "Charlotte can act like a fierce muppet sometimes, and 'hat was wan of 'er moments!"

Lucy blinked, not sure of what to think about that. Suddenly, a set of footsteps was heard, and Lucy turned to see that the Magmortar from the kitchen had come over, looking angry at Sam.

"Sam, stop teasing little Charlotte!" the Magmortar scolded in a feminine voice and a very light Unovian accent. If one were to compare it to real world accents, this Magmortar has a very light Boston accent. "Don't make me shove chowda down ya throat!"

"ACK!" Sam barked loudly, causing everyone to laugh out loud, as Charlotte got back onto her chair. Noah, recognizing the Magmortar, turned to her with a shocked expression on his face.

"Kenna?" Noah queried in surprise, getting up from his chair to look at the annoyed Magmortar. The Magmortar's annoyed expression quickly changed to one of surprised joy.

"Noah, is that you?" Kenna questioned rhetorically, joy in her voice as she pulled in Noah for a hug. "It's been ages since I've seen ya! How 'ave ya been?"

"Good, good!" Noah responded, acting like he's seen an old friend again. As Kenna and Noah pull out of the hug, the said Empoleon gestured towards Abby, who waved to the said Magmortar to catch her attention. "You remember Abby, don't you?"

"Of course! How can I? I was at ya wedding, after all!" Kenna grinned, still joyful as ever. "It was ever so great! You looking 'andsome in that suit of yours, and Abby looking beautiful! To this day, I swear I saw Oddwald crying, though he still denies it!"

Kenna then noticed Lucy and Alastor, who look very confused at the Magmortar as the other members of the group who are part of the guild continue to chat with each other. Kenna looked startled in a somewhat comical way.

"Naw way!" she went, looking at Noah and Abby before turning her attention back to the kids then back to their parents in a comical endless cycle. "Ya had kids?! They're so cute!"

Noah chuckled a little as Alastor became flabbergasted upon being called cute. Lucy, however, looked confused. "Dad, who is this?" she asked Noah, curious about this strange Magmortar who's staring her up.

"Oh, this is Kenna Blaise!" the fatherly Empoleon replied with a hint of teasing in his voice. "She was the caretaker and cook for Spirit-Realm when I was a teen! Kenna is also the denmother for the younger members! She….was like a mother to me when I was younger…. Though nowadays, she's old enough to be a grandmother!"

"HEY!" Kenna barked, angrily at Noah as she pointed her left arm at him. "Don't call me old, young man! I'm only in my early fifties! Besides, it's been ages since yer called! You never told me ya had kids! Ya should and visited sometime!"

Noah rubbed the back of his head, looking somewhat ashamed and confused. "Well, you do have a point there, Kenna. I should have called…. But I've been busy raising Lucy and Alastor along with maintaining my job…." He remarked, confused a little as he blinked. "But I have been sending letters to Amos on occasion. Besides, I didn't want my children to find out about the whole…. Supernatural affair of things… You know the rules, after all. You're the one that drilled them into my head, along with Ignatius."

"'The first rule across all exorcist guilds in the world is to make sure that the general public, who cannot see spirits and the Corrupted, are not aware of them.'" Ignatius spoke out calmly, repeating words that were told to him a long time ago. "'Two, maintain peaceful relations between Pokémon of different religions. Three, in case of a member of the public becoming aware of spirits and the Corrupted, their memories must be erased, unless they are associated with an exorcist who is a family member or gain the ability to see them.' Those are the rules, no?"

Kenna grinned, nodding as she folded her magma arms. "Indeed! Good on ya to remember!" Kenna complimented, sincerely. Suddenly, an idea formed in Kenna's head, causing her to smirk a little. "Everyone who knew Noah is here at the guild, so I'm gonna make an announcement to say yer back!"

Noah chuckled, shaking his head. "They're gonna be happy, that's for sure!" he stated, serenely as Lucy watched in confusion. Kenna then took a deep breath, and then yelled:

"HEY! EVERYONE! NOAH'S BACK!"

"WHAT?!" "NOAH'S BACK?" "EXCELLENT!"

After a few seconds of those voices yelling really loudly for some reason, a bunch of Pokémon rushed into the guild main hall, surrounding Noah in excitement. Along with the Bellossom wearing glasses and the Quagsire, a Rhyperior, a Shelgon, a Dusknoir, a Glaceon, a Froslass, a Pawniard and a Hawklucha come rushing in to meet Noah. Shocked by this, Lucy sees her father laugh a little as the group of new Pokémon cheer upon seeing him.

"Okay, okay, I get it! You're happy to see me!" Noah laughed a little, carefree as the crowd chatters. The Rhyperior raised his boulder-y left arm into the air to catch his attention.

"About time you came back, Noah!" the Rhyperior spoke up in cheer. "It's been ages since you've last came and saw us!"

"Here, here!" both called the Shelgon and the Hawklucha in joy. Then, the Bellossom stepped forward from the crowd, looking dignified.

"What the ramble had just said is true, dear Noah. It's a pleasure to see you again." The Bellossom remarked to Noah, in a posh but surprisingly cool male voice.

"Um, who are you lot, exactly?" Alastor questioned, completely bewildered by what's happening. To everyone else but Lucy, everyone seems calm, even entertained to see Noah meeting up with the guild members again. The group of guild members then turned to Alastor, who becomes startled upon becoming the centre of attention.

"…..Who…. are you…exactly?" the Froslass questioned quietly, cocking her head slightly. What the Froslass had said was the exact thought of the group. Then, Kenna step forward, placing a hand on Alastor's head.

"Well, this is Noah's son, Alastor! And the Kirlia is his daughter, Lucy!" Kenna introduced loudly, to the guild members. "And before ya say, 'Noah, why didn't ya tell us about ya having kids?' Shut up! It's his choice and he'll explain later, maybe! NOW! Introduce yerselfs to the kids!"

The group murmured in response of that, with few saying 'fine' afterwards. The Bellossom stepped forward once more, towards Lucy and Alastor, to introduce himself.

"I am Oddwald Blaise, Spirit-Realms Liberian, Kenna's husband, and occasionally helper on research." Oddwald introduced himself, politely. "And before you ask, yes, I am a male Bellossom. I get that question a lot. If there's anything you wish to inquire about the supernatural, I'll be more than happy to help, young sir and young lady."

As Oddwald stepped off, the Quagsire was next to introduce himself. The Quagsire appeared to be sporting a yellow bandana. "Yo. I'm Marcus Mud." The Quagsire went simply. "I'm a Pokémon of few words. I help with communications between members of our guild and the other guilds. That is all."

Marcus then proceeded to head to the back of the group as the Shelgon took up plate. The Shelgon's paws appear to be covered in black ink, along with a smudge mark below his left eye. "Hey there, kids! I'm Sal Drake!" Sal remarked, rather cheerfully. "I maintain the job requests for our members! If you're looking for a bit of hard work and some extra coin, come talk with me! I'll be happy to help ya!"

Once Sal had trodded off, the Rhyperior charged into, all excited. The Rhyperior appears to be covered in battle scars all around his body, especially noted the ones on his face, as some most grows around his shoulders. "WHAT UP, LITTLE ONES?! THE NAME'S CHARGER FUST!" the Rhyperior yelled out loudly, causing the Froslass to shush him as Lucy and Alastor jump at his yelling. "Ack, sorry! Tell to yell a lot! Anyway, I'm in charge of the training hall! If you want to get stronger, COME TO ME! I'LL MAKE THOSE MUSCLE YELL!"

As Charger went off in his little world, the Dusknoir floated forward, sighing to himself in annoyance. The Dusknoir appears normal for his species, no individual features. The only difference is that this Dusknoir is a shiny one. Plus the fact he's tied a white scarf around his right arm. "Ugh…. Sorry about that. Charger is a bit…. Weird sometimes. Anyway, I'm Ghoulk Spook." Ghoulk introduced himself casually and calmly, but still annoyed by Charger's behaviour. "I help with the investigations behind supernatural beings. Corruptors happens to be my forte. Come and see me if you want to know more details about them."

After Ghoulk floated off, the Glaceon, well, floated forward. The Glaceon had the oddest look out of the entire guild members. The Glaceon's body is white as snow with black diamond shaped spots on her back. Her front paws were red while the back paws were black. Her tail is a black diamond and one of her flesh ribbons were ripped while the other was red diamond shaped. And finally, her eyes were pure red. "Hello!" the oddly coloured Glaceon went happily, doing a spin in the air as happily as she can. When she saw the very startled Lucy and Alastor look at her in horror, she laughed out loud. "Hehehehe! I get that look every time I meet someone new, and IT NEVER gets funny! I'm Ivory by the way!"

Ivory did another spin in the air. "Anyway, I'm Spirit-Realm resident ghost, and Ghoulk's help on the investigations on all things supernatural! HEHEHE! I'm VERY good at tracking down Corrupted!" she giggled to herself happily, still amused by Lucy's shocked face. Alastor looked confused, as he couldn't see Ivory due to him not being a Seer. "Oh yeah, if you're wonder why I am a ghost, I died by a rope! Also, the look I'm sporting, I have no idea why I look like this! 'It's there to begin with!' If you want someone to have fun with, I'm your girl! Hehehe!"

Ivory floated off, cackling to herself, with the Froslass floating forward with a calm expression. Lucy gasped a little at the Froslass, as she recognized her from being the server at the American diner in town. This Froslass is wearing a black eyepatch around her left eye. "…..I'm Cherfryst Spook…" the Froslass said rather quietly and reluctantly. "…..I'm…..the guild's intel head operator…I gather…..information on the streets on….any supernatural activity….I'm not much of a speaker…..so…. sorry if my speaking patterns are annoying….I'm also Ghoulk's…..wife."

As Cherfryst floated off as quietly as she floated in, the Pawniard walked towards the group in an arrogant manner, like he owns the place. The Pawniard is wearing a red-bow tie around his neck. "Hehehehe….. So, yer Iggy's old chums, eh? That's queer, never 'eard of yer. Anyway, the name's Shanks, Bishop Shanks, and don't you never forget it!" Bishop spoke arrogantly, using old phrases from the past despite sounding young. "What do me do? I handle all the…..activity within the underground of this town, yer see? If yer want some info, some dirty on someone or need to find someone…..come to me, old Bishop will help yer….."

Bishop swaggered off, looking rather boastful and dirty. The Hawklucha stepped forward, sighing with annoyance. The Hawklucha is wearing a pair of smart-reading glasses and has a yellow flower in her topknot. "Please forget him…. He does nothing but dirty the name of our guild…. I have no clue why Amos allowed him in here…." The Hawklucha remarked with her eyes closed and arms crossed, with a clear tone in her voice to emphasis seriousness. The Hawklucha then opened her eyes with a sincere smile. "I am Joan Flight and I am the guild's secretary. I help maintain the guild's sectors and make sure that everyone is in line, especially our….oddest members. I also make sure that our activities go unnoticed by the general public, even though the end result can be mysterious…."

"Was it you who came up with that whole 'gas explosion' thing?" Alastor questioned curiously, with Joan nodding.

"Right on the money there. Not one of our common excuses we use to explain a Corruptor attack." Joan explained, pushing up her glasses, looking somewhat confident. "Normally, a Corruptor attack looks like a murder scene, but it so happens that Corruptor 8073, or 'Bonecruncher' as it refers itself, didn't actually get the chance to kill its target. Luckily, one of our members in the fighting department happened to….dispose of it….."

Lucy stole a quick worried look from Jack, who shot back a look that said 'Sorry, she's usually like this'. Joan then shook her head. "Anyway, I do believe you met everyone. I heard you ran into Shinrin yesterday so you met him. You four are already know Intoxiquer and his daughter, Kiri so I do believe that none of you have met Honō….. Though he and Shinrin help provide food for the guild so it depends on him turning up or not…"

"Kamaimasen. We're here." A cool voice calls calmly, and everyone turns to see that Kiri has entered the guild, with her brothers Shinrin and Honō climbing down the ladder. As soon as they are down, Intoxiquer swoops down the entrance and quickly scanned the area.

"Appears that everyone it here apart from Stringslicer…" Intoxiquer murmured to himself out loud, confusing everyone. "But that's fine, they're doing something for me…."

"INTOXIQUER!" Charger roared out, rather angrily. "WHY THE HECK DID YOU CALL US ALL HERE FOR?! WE GOT STUFF TO DO, REMEMBER?!"

"As annoying as Charger's yelling is, I do have to agree with him on that matter." Ghoulk politely pointed out, looking confused. "It's a bit odd for you to call a guild meeting. Usually, Amos is the one to call one….."

When Ghoulk mentioned Amos' name, Intoxiquer physically flinched, causing everyone to be taken off guard. Composing himself, Intoxiquer gave a serious look to Ghoulk.

"Um…that's what the meeting's about. Something's happened with Amos." Intoxiquer stated nervously, looking around rather paranoid, causing confusion amongst the gather group. Honō and Shinrin go to take a seat while Kiri stands up straight like a solider. Intoxiquer, sweating nervously and almost looking like he's gonna break down in tears, nodded towards the chairs. "Everyone, take a seat. I'll explain…"

Just as Intoxiquer requested, everyone goes to take a seat, apart from Ivory, who floats above the table. Lucy looked round, confused on what's happening as the concerned looks on the guild member's face starts to make her worry, especially Jack and Sam's.

Intoxiquer took a deep breath then sighed. "I don't know how to say this in an elaborate manner or something….. So, I'll say it bluntly." Intoxiquer started, with a sorrow tone in his voice but still hesitantly. He glanced round to see each guild member's faces, each staring them in the eye for about a couple of seconds before moving onto the next one. Finally, he stopped at Kiri, who simply nodded. Taking a deep breath, Intoxiquer turns his attention towards the entirety of the guild.

"Amos…..he's been murdered." The sad Crobat finished off, face filled with sorrow but his eyes too dry to cry.

"WHAT?!" Both Charger and Ghoulk yell out in horror, slamming down on the table in anger. Lucy quickly looked round to see the reactions of the guild members. Kenna, Oddwald and Sal have tears running down their faces, Marcus and Ivory just stand there (floated in Ivory's case) in shock on what's happening and Cherfryst, Bishop and Joan looking like they're about to have an emotional breakdown. Ignatius and Noah just sat there, horror-stricken whilst Sam, Jack and Charlotte quickly stole shocked faces from each other.

"What do you mean by that?" Marcus questioned blankly, mouth agape slightly. Intoxiquer rubbed the back of his head with one of his wings.

"Late last night….." Intoxiquer started, sadly as he explained. "I was down here in the guild as everyone slept. I was about to leave to go handle my shop when I suddenly sensed a Corruptor near the entrance….."

The Crobat sighed as he looked around grief-stricken at Spirit-Realms. "I didn't get a good look on what Pokémon the Corruptor was, but I what I did know that it did two things….. First, it disappeared as soon as it appeared…." Intoxiquer continued to explain, sadly. "The second thing it did was it left a note. I flew over to it with curious intent and I saw what the note said. It said ' _Go to Fougueux Forest, along the path that few travel to the centre.'_

So, I did. My morbid curiosity made me take out to the forest late at night to find whatever this Corruptor was pointing to…..It came to the guild for a reason, and I just had to find out!"

Intoxiquer then paused, tears running down his face. "….that's when I f-found him….. Amos….d-dead." the Crobat quivered, shaking a little. "…Someone….s-shot him…I-I called the police immediately…."

"NO!" Ignatius roared out, standing up furiously whilst glaring at Intoxiquer. "My father can't be dead! He just can't be! He SAVED me from Phantasm, trained me, and helped me with my troubles! He's TOUGH! He's strong and smart! THERE'S NO ONE WAY HE'S DEAD!"

Noah stood up, looking unsure. "I'm not sure either he's dead. Amos is a strong Pokémon. There's no way he'll go guard down without a fight!" he injected seriously but calmly, with some other members nodding.

"Ignatius." Intoxiquer bluntly started, staring at the said Blaziken with a sad look on his face. "Look into my eyes when I say this. I am telling the truth, as I swear as my honour of a former police-officer. Amos is dead."

Ignatius stared at Intoxiquer for a few seconds when a few tears begin to roll down his face. "….Nn-no…I-It c-c-c-can't be…..true…" Igantius began to sob, sitting down whilst covering his face to hide his tears away, breaking down the cheerful exterior that he once had.

Lucy looked at her father with a worried tone, as Noah looked heartbroken to hear the news about his adoptive father's death.

"This can't be right!" Kenna jumped in, in denial of what's happening and still crying. "I mean, I only saw Amos last night! He can't be dead! He's my best friend!"

"Dear….he….didn't turn up this morning, remember?" Oddwald went, sadly, accepting what's happening. "He always turns up at 9:00 in the morning…..but he didn't…..this morning….."

"Amos was never late to work in the guild….." Marcus simply remarked, with a sorrowful frown on his face, with Sal nodding sadly. "Goodness, I wonder how his family are feeling at the moment, especially Peter…." Charger got up furiously, and looking around anxiously, if looking for something to pummel in anger and sadness.

"GRR….I NEED TO BEAT SOMETHING UP! I CAN'T FREAKING CONCENTRATE FROM MY SADNESS! ARGH!" Charger roared out furiously, dashing towards the training hall in pure fury. Ghoulk, sighing, floated after him.

"I can understand why he's upset….." the shiny Dusknoir said dejectfully as he floated over to the guild hall. "…..I need to make sure he doesn't completely destroying the training hall, or the stairs to be in fact….."

As Ghoulk disappeared, Ivory floated back down to the ground, looking gloomy. "I….don't believe it….. This isn't funny at all…..Wait….." Ivory's suddenly perked up in realization of something. "Could Amos have become a ghost? If he died, his spirit must be around here somewhere!"

"Sore wa chigau yo!" Kiri injected quickly. "With my powers, I tried to detect if Amos's spirit was still around. I can't detect him anywhere within the town…..gomen nasai…."

As Ivory continued to look depressed after being told that, Cherfryst frowned a little. "What….was Amos….doing up in the forest…..anyway?" she quietly asked to Intoxiquer, catching everyone's attention.

"Yes, yes, yes! What was old Amos doing up 'ere?" Bishop quickly jumped in, confused by this. Joan nodded, agreeing with Bishop.

"For once, I agree with Bishop." She remarked seriously, glaring at Intoxiquer seriously. "Amos told us nothing on what he was doing, so what on earth was he doing in the forest at night?"

Intoxiquer physically flinched even more, then sighed to take a deep breath. "Speaking of that, I'm declaring a state of emergency for the guild." The Crobat stated seriously, as several murmurs soon broke out. "After I found Amos' body, I found a book on him. A book of stories."

"Huh?" Lucy went to herself, as several gasps soon followed. Ivory floated up into the air and flew back a bit. "You….don't mean…."

Intoxiquer nodded seriously. "Yes, I do mean that." The Crobat affirmed seriously, looking it as he looked at the guild members. "I do believe whoever killed Amos destroyed the seal in the middle of the forest."

Intoxiquer looked around again. "In other words, they released Wrathfire."

"WHAT?!" both Charger and Ghoulk yelled out loud in horror as they suddenly reappeared out of no-where to hear this news. Sal dashed around in panic.

"OH NO, NO, NO, NO!" he chanted in fear, dashing around the table in fear, eyes widen in fear of this revelation. "HE'S OUT HE'S OUT HE'S OUT!" Ivory floated backwards into the wall, with her head sticking out of it.

"This is bad! Everyone who's an exorcist or a seer KNOWS not to do that!" She screamed in fear, terrified on the news of Wrathfire being released. "Even the general public is warned not to go into the centre of the forest! THIS IS BAD THIS IS BAD!"

Marcus scowled, angrily. "We have to warn the supernatural population of our town and the nearest guilds." He simply remarked, with Jack shaking her head.

"I 'ave to agree on warning the supernatural population!" she injected seriously, scowling as well. "But ya need to warn all other guilds in our country! Who knows 'here Wrathfire could appear?!"

Cherfryst nodded, agreeing with Jack. "…..We need to…..do something quickly…" she stated quietly, as the guild got into more of an uproar upon hearing about Wrathfire. Alastor held up a flipper, in confusion.

"Um…" Alastor went, still confused. "I'm sorry for not being on track here, despite not being a Seer or Exorcist myself…..but who's Wrathfire?"

Silence soon fell upon the guild, as everyone turns to look at Alastor. The atmosphere of the silence is extremely intense, as the question took many Pokémon in the guild off guard. Suddenly, Charger stepped forward, looking infuriated at Alastor.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO WRATHFIRE IT?!" he roared angrily once again, scaring Alastor to bits.

"Dama ri nā!" Kiri objected to Charger, looking annoyed as the said Rhyperior glanced round at her. "Young Angelo-san is an outsider to the guild and has only learned about our world recently. So, kudasai, as you would say, 'cut him some slack'."

As Charger backed off, Intoxiquer flew forward a little, looking at Lucy, Alastor and Abby first, then to Jack and Sam second. "Well, with Jack and Sam, you two were going to be told eventually, when you two both reached seventeen on Amos' orders, but since Wrathfire's out, you need to be told now…" the Crobat started, rather tiredly.

"And as for Mrs Angelo and her children, I'll explain who Wrathfire, to know how serious this threat is. Your father already knows who we're talking about, but I see no harm in updating on what we know."

With Noah slowly agreeing, Intoxiquer took a deep breath, and started to explain: "Wrathfire is a Corruptor to put it simply, a yellow one. However, he's different from all the others in Fougueux Ville. Usually, we get Corruptors that either power level 5 or 4 here in this town. Wrathfire, however, is different, he's a level one yellow Corruptor, and an extremely powerful one for level one Corrupted standards."

Intoxiquer sighed, looking anxious. "Most of the time, yellow Corruptors tend to be savage, wild monsters regardless of their level. However, there is a population of yellow Corruptors that still have their mind intact, which Wrathfire is part of. Out of all of them, the weaker ones tends to follow any stronger Corruptors in some kind of pack, and the strong yellow Corruptors do hunt others and souls, but tend to stay away from us Exorcists.

Wrathfire…..he's a different story. Despite being extremely powerful, he HAS no group to follow him. Like his name suggests, he does nothing but unleashes his wrath upon others, for amusement to cure his boredom or out of anger. He's SO powerful, he could wipe out even our strongest fighters and the town if he wanted to!

But what's the scariest thing about Wrathfire? He's manipulative, cunning, calculating and just downright creepy! He doesn't fight much, as he'll get others to do his bidding for him. He'll make you turn against your friends and family, with a few simple words and boom! He's got you controlled like a puppet! Imagine, turning on your loved ones just because Wrathfire said a few words! He's that good! Yellow Corruptors don't usually do that!

He's responsible for a few disasters in Fougueux Ville's past! The Great Forest Fire Fougueux and the Earthquake of '82, he was responsible for those two. The former when he accidently got free from his seal and the other when some young punks thought it would be funny to damage the seal, allowing his power to seep into the earth to almost completely destroy Fougueux!"

Intoxiquer glared deeply at the ones he was explaining. "The only way to re-apply the seal on Wrathfire is to read a story to him. It was mentioned that Wrathfire enjoyed stories when he was alive, and the most powerful seal works depending on what the sealed Corruptor liked in their life. It must be done once a year according to Amos, and whoever killed him must have unleased Wrathfire!"

"Wait, if Wrathfire is so bad, wouldn't he have killed the Pokémon who released him on sight? Wouldn't there be another body?" Alastor pointed out, confused by this. Intoxiquer looked surprised by this, if realizing himself.

"That is true….." he commented, thinking about it hard. "That could mean that either Wrathfire must have fled the forest, ignoring whoever freed him or something else must have happened…"

Intoxiquer shook his head, looking serious. "Anyway, you should beware of Wrathfire. He's extremely dangerous! This message also goes out to you lot too!" the Crobat barked seriously, pointing one of his wings out to the rest of the guild members. "If you see a Pokémon Corruptor that's a fire type and has the number 2 on them, call the strongest members straight away!"

Ghoulk floated forward, seriously. "So, that's Kiri, Charlotte, Charger, me, Cherfryst, Oddwald, Kenna, Sam, Jack, Ignatius, you, Vanessa and Doom?" he questioned, somewhat rhetorically. Intoxiquer nodded, seriously.

"Indeed!" the Crobat stated, earnestly. "By the rules of the guild, when the guildmaster has died or away during a crisis, a temporary leader will handle the mantle of guildmaster until the crisis is over and a new one is elected! Due to Vanessa and Doom being away and Ignatius…"

Intoxiquer, along with everyone else apart from the said Blaziken vicar, looked over to him. Ignatius still looks like to be in a state of shock. "…..well, as you can tell, still shocked over the news about…..Amos….. So, when he gets better, I'll let him take over….." Intoxiquer remarked sadly, then shook his head. "But in the meantime, I'm electing myself as leader to handle the crisis of Wrathfire! Does everyone agree?"

A few murmurs of agreement soon followed, with Joan stepping forward looking sad. "But what about Amos? What about his funeral?" she asked, honestly. A depressed Intoxiquer sighed.

"Yes, I know. We'll have to arrange it at some point. But, with Wrathfire out at the moment, and the possibility of him causing calamities, I think it's best to focus on finding him, capturing him, sealing him away and finding who released him in the first place!" Intoxiquer argued intently to the smart-looking Hawklucha. "Once that's done, we'll focus on Amos…..and our grief….."

Joan nodded, stepping back. Intoxiquer looked round with a serious intent. "Okay, this is how it's gonna go down." The Crobat started, thinking of a plan. "I'm going to work on the police with the crime scene. Since I'm a former member of the police and a well-known advisor to our town's police force, I'm going to help investigate who killed Amos and find them, hopefully finding where Wrathfire is and sealing them away. Wrathfire doesn't get out without a reason, since that's seal is more powerful than him."

Intoxiquer turned to Abby, who looked surprised upon the Crobat looking at her. "Mrs Angelo, even though it's your holiday, may I request your assistance as a forensic scientist at the crime scene? It will be a great help to us find who killed our guildmaster."

Abby nodded, smiling a little. "My husband saw your guildmaster as a father, and…" she started, glancing over to a sad Noah, who looked to be in grief at the moment. "…he's just lost him father. Even though I didn't know Amos that well, I'll gladly help you find who killed him, to bring my Noah some closure."

Intoxiquer grinned, looking happy. "Great!" he remarked, turning to the rest of the guild. "Okay, here's the second part. I'm splitting you lot in five teams. First team, Marcus, Ivory and Cherfryst, I want you three to stay here in the guild, to protect it from Wrathfire if he were to turn up here, and help with communications. Got it?"

Marcus nodded as Ivory came out of the wall. "GOT IT!" she yelled as Cherfryst said the same thing but quieter. Intoxiquer grinned once more.

"Next team: Charger, Sal and Joan, you three head around the farm area just on the outskirts. It's quite a possible chance that Wrathfire's down there, hiding or something. Make sure to place several sealment traps powerful enough to hold him down for ages, until we get him back at the centre of the forest! Got it?"

"WE CAN DO THIS!" Charger roared out loudly in confidence, as both Sal and Joan nodded. Intoxiquer, pleased by this, announced the third team.

"Ghoulk, Bishop, Oddwald and Kenna, you go search around town. Wrathfire might be hiding around here somewhere. Like Joan's team, do the same thing with the traps, but make sure that they are only for level 2 Corruptors. We don't need Stringslicer or some random Corruptor accidently trapped in there! And Kenna? Don't worry about dinner, Shinrin and Honō have agreed to make it for tonight for us. Got it?"

The third team nodded in agreement, no objections heard. Satisfied with this, Intoxiquer moved on. "Charlotte, Sam and if possibly, Mrs Angelo, I like to include Alastor amongst the fourth team." Intoxiquer started, surprising everyone, especially Abby herself. As she was about to object, Intoxiquer cut in before here. "Don't worry, I don't have anything dangerous involved for him. I just want Charlotte, Sam and Alastor to go check up on Peter, Amos' grandson, that's all."

Abby thought for a moment, then nodded to agree. Intoxiquer then turned to those that he mentioned. "Got that task understood?"

Charlotte grumbled a little, something about wanting to do something exciting, but Sam and a reluctant Alastor nodded. Frowning a little, Intoxiquer moved onto the last team.

"The last team will consist of just Kiri and Jack." He started simply, surprising Jack on this. "Your job is to give our guest here, Miss Lucy Angelo, a training session on her new-found powers. That's all to it. Got that?"

Lucy, shocked by this, turned to see Jack nodded with a cheerful but at the same time sad grin whilst in the corner of her eye, saw Kiri nodded as well, though slowly.

"Good." Intoxiquer announced, proud by this. "All right everyone! Apart from Ignatius and Noah, who need some…..space, everyone knows what they're doing, and I expect everyone to be back here at eight o'clock sharp! If there's any trouble, communicate with the other teams! If you are contacted and there's trouble, head over there straight away! Got it?"

"YEAH!" the whole guild, apart from the guests and Ignatius, cheered out loud. The temporary leader grinned seriously.

"Right!" Intoxiquer started quickly. "EVERYBODY! FALL OUT!"

And with that, the said teams apart from the last and first ones proceeded to pile out of the guild's entrance. Lucy saw her brother being dragged away by Charlotte and Sam, with her mother and Intoxiquer heading over to the crime scene. For some reason, Lucy felt the oddest sense of déjà vu at the current moment, but can't seem to point a word to why.

Jack came over as the first team disappeared off somewhere to the guild. The said large Irish Luxio grinned as Kiri came over after seeing her brothers over to the kitchen. "Well 'here feek!" Jack began cheerfully. "Ready for yer training session on exorcist powers number wan?"

Lucy paused for a moment, thinking about what it could all mean. Why is she having a training session? Is it to gain more strength as an exorcist? Lucy then gained a determined face, turning to Jack with confidence.

"Yes, let's do this!"

* * *

**To be continued…..**


	16. New-found powers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy begins her training as an exorcist.

**m 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 15:**

**New-found powers**

* * *

**And now it's time for another episode of Noirshiro Theatre!**

The cartoon cut-out of Noirshiro once again returned on the cartoon cut-out stage, along with the cartoon heart. Then, suddenly, a cartoon power switch appeared randomly, evident by the on and off writing on it.

"Power is a fun thing to have!" Noirshiro suddenly exclaimed, with his cartoon cut-out head bobbing up and down. "Power allows everyone to do with what their heart's desire! From creating a 'better' world for everyone or gain complete control over the entire nation, or possibly the world! That all sounds fun to me!

To be honest, I don't understand why some Pokémon are referred to being 'corrupted by power'! To me, they're realising how much potential that they can do with the power that they've obtained, and can use it to whatever selfish desire that they want! Who cares that the general public complains about it? THEY'RE not the ones with all that DELECTABLE power!

So, if you got the power to take over, flaunt it! Use it! DON'T LET ANYONE STAND IN YOUR WAY OF BEING BETTER AND MORE POWERFUL THAT YOU ARE!"

**And now back to our regular program!**

* * *

"GRAH!" an extremely pissed off Noirshiro growled to themselves, as they stomped down the shadowy metal corridors of Team Spectrum's base, with grunts moving out of the way quickly so they don't induce the wrath of the despair-obsessed Umbreon. "That little quim of a Kirlia! How dare she beat me up like THAT?! GRAGH, SHE'S GONNA PAY SO BADLY!"

The brewing fury of Noirshiro continued to spew as they walked into the Commander's Meeting Room, where the other two Commanders, Sakura the cherry-flower wearing Greninja and the smartly dressed Digby Donavan the Raichu are currently waiting. Sakura smirked deviously as Noirshiro jumped onto one of the chairs in the shadowy room.

"So, Noirshiro, greh gheh gheh, how are you feeling?" Sakura cheekily asked, already knowing the answer as it was clear on Noirshiro's face.

"I'M FEELING BAD, AND NOT IN THE GOOD DESPAIR WAY! I'M FURIOUS!" the Umbreon screeched out, still livid about their defeat by Lucy. "I'M GOING TO BEAT THAT QUIM DOWN INTO THE GROUND!"

"Calm down, Noirshiro, we understand why you're frustrated." Digby went, adjusting his glasses to read a report that he has on him. "You can induce despair to that Kirlia later on. Stick to the plan, remember?"

Noirshiro growled to themselves but didn't snap back at Digby, just muttering some very rude words as they looked away annoyed. Raising an eye, Sakura stared down Digby and his report, knowing what it says already, as she saw Digby read it throughout the day several times.

"Hey, DD, why are you STILL reading that report?" Sakura questioned curiously, leaning back in her chair and putting her feet up. "Haven't you read it through already?!"

An angry anime-like tick appeared on the side of Digby's head, as he pushed away the report and pushed up his glasses with an annoyed sigh. "How many times do I have to say my name is DIGBY DONAVAN?!"

As Sakura and a somewhat cheering up Norishiro laugh, the door was heard opening. The three commanders of Team Spectrum turn to see another commander enter the room. This commander is higher up the command chain, with Noirshiro, Digby, Sakura and the fourth commander at their level being under this commander, who's the second in command to the boss of Team Spectrum. We'll call this commander for now: Sarushiro.

"Greetings everyone!" Sarushiro remarked cheerfully, being hidden by the shadows in the base. "How's everyone doing? I'm not doing fine because of these shadows in our base! Whose idea was this to put shadows in our base?! I CAN'T FREAKING SEE?! Anyway, how are you doing?"

Sakura chuckled a little, looking deviously at her two comrades. "I've been annoying DD and Noirshiro as per usual!" she replied, rather cheekily. Digby scowled in anger upon being call that. From the darkness, Sarushiro frowned, though she can't be seen.

"Sakura, please call Digby by his real name and don't annoy Noirshiro. He'll probably do one of his punishments on you." Sarushiro warned, seriously and sternly. She then threw a bag of jam donuts towards the twisted Umbreon, who jumps in surprise. "Have some of these Noirshiro. Your blood sugar level is probably low again. Me thinks it's from that beat down you had, right?"

"GRAGH!" Noirshiro yelled out in frustration, tearing into the jam donuts like the vicious Pokémon that they are upon hearing about their defeat being mentioned. Digby, a lot calmer now, turned his head towards Sarushiro with a confused expression.

"If you don't mind me asking, where is 'Riles and the boss?" he asked curiously, wonder where his fellow comrades are. "They were supposed to be here at 11 o'clock sharp, as usual."

Sarushiro shrugged a little, looking somewhat nervous. "Yeah, about that….. The boss is going incognito for today as Spirit-Realm might be looking for him. You know, the part where the guild master's blood undoes the seal on the Demon of Fougueux Ville? Well, he's going uncover and meeting up with the Demon later on."

"Wait a SECOND!" Noirshiro jumped in, having finished the jam donuts already. "What do you mean by 'meeting up with the Demon later on'? And isn't that 'demon' actually a Corruptor named Wrathfire?!"

Sarushiro nodded, somewhat calmly. "Yes, Noirshiro, you're right, Wrathfire is the Demon." She replied with a smooth tone. "As for the first part, Wrathfire, turns out, likes our little plan to re-building this world. Wrathfire had to go get something then will be joining us later on once he's done. As for 'Riles, he had to go incognito, to gather some information for us."

"Wait, just like that?" Sakura goes, surprised at this revelation. "We haven't captured him and forced him to do anything for us? Wrathfire simply AGREED to help?! I'm suspicious about that! Isn't he supposed to be terrifyingly powerful?"

Sarushiro nodded at the Greninja's question. "That is a fair point. Maybe Wrathfire sees our plan as a little game and wants to help us. I don't really know, but you know what they say, don't look a gift Ponyta in the mouth."

As Sakura reluctantly nodded, Sarushiro grinned. "All right, let's move onto the next agenda….."

* * *

**Meanwhile….**

* * *

"Woah….." Lucy goes, climbing down a ladder into the guild's training hall, not expecting this at all. After following Jack and Kiri down the spiral staircase, Lucy found a hatch leading down further underground. As Lucy climbed down, she marvelled at the size of the training hall.

First of all, the size of the training hall is huge! It around the size of twelve large football pitches put together to make a huge underground rectangle. Well, that's the base area of the hall. The height from the ceiling to the ground is around 1,000 feet, to give some room whilst training. Someone must have done a lot of digging to get all of this out!

The second thing about this training hall is that it gives the illusion of being a battlefield. The floor area is filled with rocks and craggy floors, to give the area a more natural look. The occasional dead tree can be seen scatted around the place. The ceiling is painted to look like a cloudy day whilst the walls are also somewhat painted like that but also to have a horizon on it to make it look natural despite it being fake.

As Lucy finished climbing down the ladder, Jack grinned cheerfully as Kiri went ahead to prepare the training session. "Like it? It's Charger's best work, methinks!" the Irish Luxio stated rather optimistically. "This is Spirit-Realm's training hall, ya see? This is the place 'hat we come and kick each other in the arses!"

Lucy giggled a little at Jack's choice of language then frowned in confusion. "Why do I need training anyway? I'm not planning to become an exorcist anyway." She asked, quite curious about this. Jack took a quick look at Kiri, who's doing something with the ground for some odd reason, then looked back at Lucy.

"Listen, I know 'hat being an exorcist may be quare to ya but it's important 'hat ya learn." Jack replied somewhat sternly. "Since ya now aware of the Corrupted, yer not gonna take tose tablets of yers anymore. Though they don't appear as much in the big city, Corrupted will appear and attack yer due to 'hat smell 'hats always repelled 'hem away wouldn't be there anymores. Ya can't attack 'hem with regular attacks, they won't work on Corruptors! Ya need some exorcist powers to defend yerself from the Corrupted, feek!"

Lucy nodded, understanding what Jack is trying to say. Then, Kiri came back with her silver cross in her hand, obviously ready for the training session.

"Mou ii? Oops, um, I mean, 'ready'?" Kiri asked to Lucy sincerely and calmly, catching herself off guard with her normal use of Japanese language. Lucy nodded, ready to start her training session. Kiri, seeing Lucy is ready, takes a few steps back whilst Jack goes to take a seat on a nearby rock with a cut mark on it.

"Okay, let me explain the basis of your exorcist weapon, Lucy-Chan." Kiri started, holding her cross up to explain, whilst Lucy her cross around her neck. "Each exorcist weapon has four forms that can be used, each more powerful than the previous one. The four forms are made up of each letter from what the cross' theme is, or a word that associated with the theme that can fit within the four letter limit. For example…"

Kiri moved her cross in a sword-slash like manner, if to cut something. Suddenly, her cross glowed silver, to show that has been activated and quite quickly, Kiri transforms into her first form, which is the same form that she used to threaten the Toxicroak. The cross has transformed into a sky-blue katana whilst a silver aura has appeared around Kiri's eyes and the tips of her hair have turned silver as well.

"…my cross's theme is Acceptance. Therefore, the four letter word for its four forms is ACCE." Kiri concluded serenely, slashing her sword in the air to show off. Lucy cocked her head in confusion.

"'Ace'?" she went, confused by how Kiri's cross power is stylized. "And how come you're not dropping Japanese words into your speech?"

"Yes, that's how it's pronounced." Kiri stated seriously, having her sword return back to the cross form and her body turned back to normal. "And as for my Japanese words, I'm actually fluent in English."

Seeing Lucy's face drop in shock, Kiri giggled a little. "When I'm not being serious, I like to drop my first language's words into my regular speaking habits, hai?"

Kiri then pointed to Jack, who was laying down with a smirk on her face. "Jack's word is RAGE, since her cross's theme is anger." Kiri continued to explain to the dumbfounded Kirlia. "And your cross' word, as far as I'm aware of, is LOVE, since your cross's theme is relationship love."

"Relationship love?" Lucy asked, curious about this. Jack chuckled a little, finding it amusing that Lucy doesn't know.

"Ya see, there's actually two versions of cross 'hat have the theme of love in 'hem." Jack interrupted, jumping into Kiri's explanation, which the said Simipour gained an annoyed look. "There's the romantic love cross and the wan 'hat you 'ave, the relationship love cross. For some quare reason, both of 'hem are named the cross of love, but their colours are different."

"That's right…." Kiri jumped back it, finishing off what Jack was talking about. "Anyway, each letter within the four-letter word acts as a form stage for the cross. For example, Jack's first stage is R, which stands for 'Rage of the flames'. My first stage is A, which stands for 'All around, accept all you see'."

Lucy nodded, crossing her arms whilst thinking hard. "So, what's my first stage, then? I know it's 'L', but what does it stand for?" she asked once again, curious about this. Kiri smiled a little, though Lucy saw a little sadness in it for some reason.

"L stands for ' _Love those who love you_.'" Kiri continued to explain, looking away wistfully and dreamy. "O stands for ' _Other's love, come to me'_ , V stands for ' _Victorious friends, rely on me_ ' and E stands for ' _Everyone now, our bonds won't break'_."

Kiri then gave out a small gasp, realising that she shouldn't have said that. "Oh, gomen nasai…." The Simipour went, rather embarrassed, blushing a little. "I…..just like studying up on other crosses and their words…..It's a hobby of mine, just studying things…."

Lucy smiled a little, sincerely. "It doesn't matter!" she went, trying to make Kiri feel better. "It's better that way! At least I know what I need to say to achieve the next form!"

"Actually, at the moment, ya only able to do wan form, feek." Jack stated seriously from the rock that she is sitting on, looking at the said Kirlia, which Lucy turns to look at. "Since yer new to the 'hole exorcist ting, ya only can achieve yer first form! Don't worry, with plenty of practice back home, if ya want, ya can get stronger!"

"So, I can only use L at the moment?" she went, murmuring to herself. "In this sort of situation, since I just had my awakening, that means L will be weak….."

Kiri nodded, smiling to feel proud of Lucy. "Good deduction there. You need to train L up to the limits before you gain the power to use O. As for me and Jack, I can use all four of my letters since I've mastered everything whilst Jack can only use RAG."

Lucy frowned, and turned to Jack, who simply shrugged. "I 'aven't mastered my third letter yet. Ya don't want to see it, though. Tis scary, feek….."

Kiri once again nodded, holding out her cross. "Well, enough explanation for now." She concluded, seriously. "In order to sharpen your skill, you need to fight either against a Corruptor or another Exorcist."

The cross then transformed into a long, sky-blue staff with a black, large blade at the top of it. It resembles a naginata. "For this fight, I'll be using my first form, and I'll go easy on you, okay?" Kiri questioned, having her look turn back to her transformed state.

Lucy nodded, beginning to shiver as she grabbed her cross, which transformed itself and Lucy in the first stage. The cross has transformed into a large cutlass, coloured in ruby red and pink lavender, with the blade coloured in the former and the hilt coloured in the latter. Lucy's look has changed as well. Her hair has turned from green to a scarlet red colour as her two red horns turned a cherry-blossom pink. Her irises, which were red, has turned a hot-pink colour, which a lava-red aura is flaming from her eyes.

"Whoah…." Lucy goes, checking out her sword, surprised and impressed by the whole look of the sword.

"En garde!" Kiri yelled, charging at Lucy to strike, holding the naginata in one hand. Lucy jumped in surprised, holding up the blade to defend herself.

"AH!"

* * *

**BATTLE START!**

**Lucy Angelo vs Kiri Bijon!**

**(Never Let Up!)**

**Begin!**

* * *

Putting her other hand onto the staff part of the naginata, Kiri lunged towards Lucy, who quickly dodged to avoid the attack. However, Lucy left herself open, which Kiri took advantage off. Stomping on the ground, Kiri used her legs to knock over Lucy, attacking her legs.

Just as Lucy was about to hit the floor while being caught off guard, she promptly used Teleport to prevent another attack from Kiri, who used the pole part of her weapon to slam down onto the ground where Lucy was going to land.

Lucy teleported a few meters away. Once Kiri stood up probably, she glanced over to the pink Kirlia with a small frown. "Though normally, normal moves that aren't exorcist powered aren't used within training as there's no use for them against Corruptors…." Kiri commented, with an impressed tone in her voice. "….However, I guess moves that don't actually attack are useful….Good think there….."

Flipping her naginata around to hold it in her left hand with the blade facing upwards, the transformed Simipour grinned. "But it won't be enough!"

Kiri launched herself at Lucy, who eeped in response of the quick moving by the said Simipour. Kiri twirled her staff to use the pole end to jab Lucy in the stomach. However, Lucy was on the lookout for the attack, and managed to use the large cutlass to block the pole attack. Taken off guard, Kiri used the force of the block attack to push herself away from Lucy, who tried to slice down with the sword.

Once away, Kiri had to quickly respond by dodging as Lucy attempted to attack back herself. Having missed, Lucy accidently gets her cutlass stuck into a hard rock. Glancing back while flabbergasted by this, Lucy saw that Kiri was preparing another attack, twirling the naginata again to have it in her right hand, once again using the pole end. Lucy tried to pull out the cutlass out of the rock with little success.

Kiri goes to attack with her weapon, staff end, but at that exact moment, Lucy managed to pull out her cutlass from the rock, with the handle end jabbing Kiri in the face quickly.

Backing away with her face in pain, Kiri didn't see Lucy twirling around and attacking her weapon with the pink cutlass, trying to disarm the Simipour. However, Kiri sensed it the attack coming and responded with quickly putting her left hand on the naginata and quickly spun round to block Lucy's attack with the blade end of her weapon.

"Pretty good….." Kiri commented, grinning a little, pushing down hard on her weapon as Lucy pushed back just as hard. "But let's see what you can do about what I'm going to do next!"

Kiri suddenly jumped back, causing Lucy to stumble forward. Regaining herself, Lucy saw that her opponent had jumped upon a nearby tall rock, holding her naginata in her left hand. Using her right hand to grab it, Kiri twirls the naginata around and points the blade end of it towards Lucy. Then, suddenly, beams of silver energy shoot out of the sky-blue naginata's blade end and head towards Lucy.

With an eep, Lucy dodged the first beam of silver energy, but then Kiri begins to shoot silver beams rapidly at the said Kirlia. Continuing to dodge them, Lucy decided to Teleport away again but at that exact moment one of the beams of silver energy managed to hit her in the shoulder, flinging her back a little.

Seeing that escaping is not a good idea at this moment, Lucy figures she needs to focus her energy into her cutlass to do the same thing back. Continuing to dodge the beams of silver energy, Lucy focused her new-found power carefully, watching out for the attacks.

A few seconds later, Lucy lets out a mighty swing from her cutlass, which released a slash of pink energy at the rock that Kiri was standing on. Startled, Kiri managed to jump off the tall rock to avoid the attack, but the pink energy managed to cut through the rock, causing the top half of the rock to fall off.

Dazed and tired from that attack, Lucy didn't see Kiri quickly dash over to her to attack her. However, Kiri stopped as she saw that Lucy was about to collapse from her previous attack and dropping her weapon onto the floor, obviously used too much power from her previous attack.

Throwing away her naginata, Kiri goes to catch Lucy before she hits the ground. "Hmm…." Kiri goes, as both of them return back to their normal forms and their weapons transform back into crosses. "You did a good job there. Got to see how you fight with that weapon of yours. Now I know what you need to focus on. But, for the time being…..looks like it's my win."

* * *

**VICTORY!**

**THE WINNER IS: Kiri Bijon!**

* * *

"Ergh…." Lucy goes, standing her for herself as Kiri helped her up. "Can't believe I lost…..that battle….."

As Jack jumped down from the rock that she was sat on, Kiri simply smiled. "Well, you did put up a better fight than I imagined." She commented, going over to her cross to pick it up. "Are you good at the training classes at school?"

Lucy nodded, composing herself more. "Yeah, I'm usually within the top-ten in my year." Lucy went, blushing a little in pride. "Most of my class doesn't take it seriously so I train hard during those lessons to get better. Alastor is better than me though….."

Lucy then glanced over to her own cross, which is on the floor. She proceeded to pick it up and look it intently. "I guess apart from my awakening, which I don't remember, that was the first time I actually used a sword….."

"Ya sure?" Jack questioned, curiously as she walked over. "By the looks of tings, ya 'ad some experience in 'andling a sword like 'hat!"

Lucy nodded, looking confused by Jack's question. "I am sure! I don't remember at all using a sword before now!"

"As how you English Pokémon say, 'that's strange'…." Kiri began to ponder, thinking curiously. "There's something also I don't get…..your spiritual power is MUCH bigger than I expected…."

As Lucy became even more confused, Jack jumped in to explain. "Well, as ya now already, yer tablets prevented the sighting of Corruptors, aye? Welly, what ya didant know is 'hat if ya were to take 'hem regularly, yer spiritual power will be stunted, won't able to grow. Kinda like 'ow a plant won't grow tall without much water, ya see?"

"But your spiritual power is bigger than we had expected for you…." Kiri goes, putting her hand on her chin to think. "So much that it's like you've never taken one of those tablets before! You're a lot stronger in that battle than a Pokémon who has their spiritual growth stunted, hai?"

"Wait, you can tell just from fighting me?" Lucy questioned, surprised by Kiri being able to tell that from a single fight.

Jack nodded, grinning. "Aye, 'hat's true. Us exorcists can 'ave an estimate from feeling it but we truly can tell from a good olde fashion savage battle!" the Irish Luxio remarked, grinning madly. "Come on, let's 'ave a deadly good battle! My fiery form against yer pink and red form!"

"Wait, I turn pink and red when I go into my first form?!"

* * *

**Meanwhile….Somewhere else….**

* * *

"So…..what is Peter really like?" Alastor questioned to Sam and Charlotte, as the three walk towards Peter's house, which happened to be on the housing estate that Jack lived on. "I…..haven't had a chance to see him probably for myself…."

Charlotte, who was at the front, grinned a little. "Peter's a bit social awkward, but he's a pretty sweet kid once you get to know him!" the Charmeleon stated joyfully, as she led the way. "He likes anime quite a lot, in fact! Especially ones about robots and mechas…"

"Peter basically likes machines, enjoys seeing them, designing and building them." Sam jumped in, smiling a little. "If you were to mention anything about robots, he'll just go on and on about them! He's a sweet kid!"

Sam then frowned, looking sad as Alastor saw his expression. "Geez, he's must be roughed up by his grandfather's death….."

"…..Was Peter and Guildmaster Amos close?" Alastor asked, rather hesitantly as the two Pokémon in front of him nodded in sadness.

"Yeah….Peter's always had troubles making friends at school and around town. He prefers to hang out around his home or at the Exorcist guild…..Amos was his favourite Pokémon to interact with…." Sam replied, a bitter but sad tone in his voice. "Amos knew how to handle Pokémon and their individual problems but he was especially close to Peter….and exactly how to handle Peter's problems…."

"What are Peter's problems?" Alastor questioned, curiously, cocking his head slightly in confusion. As Sam walked ahead a little faster, Charlotte slowed down a bit, grimacing quite a lot.

"Peter…he's on the spectrum….." Charlotte stated seriously, looking sympathetic whilst thinking about Peter. "He hates crowds, loves robots and machines, has troubles socializing and sometimes, he can't empathize with others…It took him a while to accept the possibilities of Corruptors, and still hates the idea of them….

"Oh…that spectrum….." Alastor goes, realising what they're trying to institute. "There's a student at my school who's quite high on the spectrum….How high is Peter?"

"High enough that he's still able to communicate with others but has a routine of things and hates change." Sam bluntly remarked, beginning to scowl. "The other kids pick on him because of that… Grrr…..they REALLY piss me off!"

Charlotte tightened her claws as she walked, as the flame on her tail starts to intensify a little. "I swear if those BRATS are picking on him JUST after his grandfather has died…I'M GONNA BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF THEM!"

Alastor was taken aback, and looked over to Sam with bewilderment. "You know how you explained how your powers work earlier to me, and how Jack has the Cross of Anger?" he went, looking rather sarcastic. "Well, I think it went to the wrong Pokémon."

Sam snorted in laughter, grinning away. "You think Charlotte has a bad temper, just see when Jack is truly pissed off…that will make you change your mind!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Peter appeared in front of them, looking blanker than ever. His empty eyes fill his bags under them, as his fur was slightly wet from crying.

"No…..no…..no…" the little, slight chubby Espurr murmured, as more tears run down the heartbroken Peter's face. "….No….it can't be…."

Turning from her expression of anger to one of concern and sympathy, Charlotte rushes over to Peter to give him a comforting hug as Alastor and Sam rush over. Peter's reaction was delayed, as he took a few seconds to process that he's being hugged. His empty, distraught eyes shake over to the Charmeleon that's hugging him before burrowing his face in her shoulder.

As Peter muffling screams of anguish into Charlotte's left shoulder, the said Charmeleon patted Peter gently on the head, to help him come down. "There…there….." she goes, beginning to tear up as her ice blue cross begins to glow. "Let it all out….."

Alastor sighed, looking away rather disheartened. He WISHES he could do something to make Peter happier, but at the moment, Alastor doesn't even know where to start! He's a complete stranger to Peter, and how things are at the moment, Alastor might make the little Espurr WORSE! Who knows what could happen next?!

But…..at the same time, Alastor feels useless. Right in front of him, a child is crying sorrowfully, at the loss of his grandfather, someone who he loved VERY much. And there's not a DAMN thing that he can do at the moment! Alastor tightened his claw in frustration, as the feeling of uselessness overcame him. He wants to make things right, make everyone feel happy again…..Like how Lucy was before she learnt about her ability to see ghosts…

Growling softly to himself, Alastor began to think. What can he do to make things right? Alastor wouldn't want anything else to bring back Amos from the dead, if to stop the sadness in front of him. Alastor has always hated how bad things happen to good Pokémon and always wants to make things right.

Suddenly, an idea formed in his head. It's quite out there, and there's a chance that the first part of his idea will be denied and the second part can't happen due to being unable to find Amos' spirit. But, if there's a chance that Amos' spirit is still around somewhere…maybe, just maybe…

Alastor turned to Sam, who was watching Charlotte comfit the little Espurr. "Sam, I need to request something. I can understand why you don't want me to do it but I think it's important." Alastor bluntly stated, rather quietly so not to upset the young Espurr. The said Poochyena turned round and frowned a little.

"Sure,…..I guess?" Sam went, rather confused by this. "What is it?"

"I want to become a Seer." Alastor seriously affirmed, crossing his flippers. Sam did a double-take, extremely surprised by this.

"Huh?! What?! Why?!"

"Because I want to help!" Alastor confessed somewhat loudly, feeling sad about it. "Mostly everyone that I met so far on my holiday has the ability to see ghosts and is able to help out at the moment. You, Charlotte, my sister and even my mum, who can't see the Corruptors herself, are doing their bit to contain this crisis. You're helping comfit Peter, Lucy's training to fight the Corruptors, the other groups are searching to contain Wrathfire and my mum is helping investigate WHO killed Amos! I bet even once my dad and Ignatius snap out of it, they'll help the workload of what's happening!"

Alastor rubbed the back of his head, in shame. "And then there's me. I can't see nor help with the containment of this Wrathfire…I can't train my exorcist powers because I have none…I can't investigate the crime scene….and I can't even help comfit Peter because I'm a complete stranger to him…." Alastor continues to explain, feeling down about it. "…..I'm feeling useless at the moment. There's nothing I can do at the moment to help….."

"And you think being a Seer can help?" Sam questioned, rather serious while looking bewildered. "You do realise that the moment that you BECOME a Seer, you can't go back to not seeing them again! Sure, those tablets help, but in the end the ability will STILL be there! To the day you die?!"

"…That's rather harsh….." Alastor went, rather sad looking for a moment, then gain some determination. "But I'm willing to sacrifice that. I want to help out now and forever more. I don't want to become a burden to others."

Sam stared at the said Prinplup for a moment, then sighed with some relief. "You're a really nice guy, aren't ya? I can see why Jack likes you and your sister….I like that too…." Sam remarked, rather sympathetic to Alastor. "I know how it feels not wanting to be a burden…..heh…."

Sam grinned, to reinsure Alastor. "I'll talk with Intoxiquer about it later on, since he's the leader of Spirit-Realm for now. Mostly likely he'll agree to it." Sam stated, expressing honestly to Alastor, who nodded. "The main issue here is getting your parents to agree, since you're underage and we're not allowed to let children under the age of 14 to become Seers without permission, unless it's under different circumstance. Lucy was a different story for a different time. It had to be done. Here, it's completely optional for your parents to decide for you. You'll have to argue and convince your parents to let you become a Seer."

"Tch….." Alastor went, looking annoyed. "I have to. I'm only 13. Wait a second, aren't you the same age as Jack, fifteen?"

Sam nodded, looking serious as he did that. "I….got my Seer ability, like your sister, under a blood transfusion. I don't want to talk about how it led to that."

Alastor frowned for a second, but decided to let it go. He then smiled sincerely. "Thank you for agreeing. I just don't want to feel useless anymore."

The said Prinplup then felt a poke on his leg. Alastor looked down to see that Peter was staring at him inquisitively, still looking sad but he's better now, with his eyes not as empty. "Um…..I'm Peter. Who are you?" the little, slightly chubby Espurr questioned, looking away nervously as Alastor looked back at him. Alastor simply smiled.

"Hey there Peter, I'm Alastor. I heard that you like robots?"

* * *

**Meanwhile, back at the training ground…..**

* * *

"Wait…" Lucy went, completely bewildered from what Kiri had just said after her and Jack's spar with each other. "So, what you're saying is, in order for me to get use to exorcising spirits and the supernatural, we're heading to a place where mostly red Corruptors, who are the good ones, and some yellow Corruptors, who are the bad ones, live in?"

Kiri nodded, calmly. "Hai, that's what I said." She replied to Lucy's question with ease.

"Which ALSO happens to be an old abandoned house in the middle of the woods?!"

"Aye, 'hats what she said, feek." Jack affirmed, with scorch marks and several cuts in the craggy ground around her.

Lucy pinched the middle between her eyes. "Is it me or isn't that something that you'll find in a horror movie?!"

Jack and Kiri both looked at each other with some confusion then back to Lucy. "No, that's stupid." They both stated at the same time.

"EEH?!"

* * *

**To be continued…..**


	17. Go dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's up with Peter, you may ask? Who knows.....

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 16:**

**Go dark**

* * *

"…personally, I think the giant robots in Weapons are the best detailed robots that I have seen in ages!" Peter remarked, grinning rather gleefully as he told Alastor this. "The amount of detail in their movement and structure is exceptional! I've never seen such amazing attention to detail! It's simply the best I've seen and I totally recommend checking it out…!"

Sam stood there, quite amazed that Alastor was not only listening to Peter's ramblings about robots and machines, but also keep a conversation with the little (slightly chubby) Espurr. Usually, Peter would talk for ages about something he likes, which can be boring most of the time. That's not really Peter's fault normally. Due to his condition, sometimes Peter can't tell when he's talking too much. And also the fact that he doesn't really have any friends around his age that share the same interests, it's quite difficult for him to stop when Peter finds someone who likes the things he likes!

Currently, everyone is sat on the front garden of Peter's house. Looking like the other houses on the street, with a finely cut lawn with multiply different flowers and a small fence around the border of the garden. A small path made of gravel can be seen to the right of the garden, while the pavement is to the bottom of the garden. Alastor, Sam and Peter are sat in the garden while Charlotte is sat on the doorstep of Peter's house. She's not allow near plants.

Sam couldn't help but grin as he watched the conversation unfold. Who knew Alastor liked robots and machines are well?

"True, the robots in Weapons ARE fantastic….." Alastor started, crossing his flippers to act cocky in some kind of cool way. "….but have you considered Voltage's mechas? True, the animation in the anime is kinda fast paced, and can be clunky sometimes, but in the actual manga book, the mechas are SO well detailed. True, the anime does fail some of the time, but the majority of the time, it certainly lives up to the amount of detail that is present in the manga!"

Peter gained a surprised expression, having never thought of that before. "Hmm…..now that you said that, I guess you're right…" the small Espurr stated, thinking hard about it. A sudden groan was heard from Charlotte, who looks EXTREMELY bored!

"Ngahhh….." Charlotte went, looking bored as heck, lying down onto her back. "Would you cut it in with the whole robot talk? You've done nothing but talk about them for the past half an hour!"

"Oi, oi, oi!" Sam called out, cheekily grinning. "Leave them alone! It's not often that Peter talks about his interests!" Charlotte responded with a small groan, followed with a quiet "You're right…."

Peter blushed for a moment, feeling embarrassed towards his new friend. "Ah, sorry if I was yammering on again….." he remarked, feeling ashamed for talking off his head. "Other Pokémon…..they tend to tease me for my interests…..I do tend to talk too much about them anyway…."

Alastor shook his head. "Well, if you think you talk too much about your interests, maybe that's something you could work on!" he affirmed calmly, giving some cheerful advice to Peter. "But there's nothing wrong with having a passion for the things you like! That's what makes you like it in the first place, BECAUSE you like it!"

Peter sat there, surprised by this. He then gained a sincere smile. "Hey…..I never thought of that…..I guess I spent so much time on the negatives that I forgot the positives….." he stated, with a sincere smile, some joy in his voice. Peter's smile then dropped into a sad frown, looking almost upset. "My grandpa…he always helped cheer me up when I felt down….."

Alastor quickly glanced round to see both Sam and Charlotte being quiet, deep in thought as sadness overcame then. Tears began to run down Peter's face as Charlotte's cross glows again. Quickly trying to divert the subject away from Amos' death, an idea came into Alastor's head.

"So…um….what was…your grandfather like?" the Prinplup asked, curiously and nervously, hoping it would not upset him anymore. To Alastor's utter relief, Peter began talking about his grandfather.

"My grandpa….he was a kind man…." Peter went, wiping tears away though his eyes were still red. "He understood me and how I process things a lot more than other people thoughts they could. He would be there for me, come rain or shine…Heck, he would even listen to me yammer on what I like for ages, though…..heh heh, I suspected he just tuned me out and just did that to enjoy my company….."

Peter chuckled a little. "My grandpa knew how to deal with me when I'm having one of my…moments….and listened to what I seriously had to say…he was always patient with me when I wasn't with him…..he never once yelled at me either….my grandpa knew how others worked and helped me make friends with the guild members…."

Peter's paws began to shake as more tears start flowing down his face, as his face scrunched up in anger. "My…grandpa…. He was a kind man…a gentle Pokémon…..a strong Pokémon….who on earth wanted to kill someone as KIND as him?! Huh?! WHY?!" Peter began to sob, shaking in sadness and rage. Sam got up and went over to him, putting a paw on Peter's head to reinsure him. "He was the one I trusted the most…..I'll do anything…..ANYTHING…to….b-bring….h-h-him…back….."

As Peter began to quietly cry in utter despair, Sam patted him on the head, frowning himself. "There, there…let it all out…" he went, as Charlotte came over with a sympathetic look on her face. She glanced over to Alastor, who was wearing an expression of: 'OH MAN, I DIDN'T MEAN FOR THIS TO HAPPEN!'

Charlotte placed a flaw on Alastor's shoulder, to assure him. "Don't worry, you didn't know how Peter would have reacted. You tried the best you could….."

Alastor sighed, feeling bad that he made Peter cry. "I feel like such a jerk…I didn't mean for this to happen…." Alastor remarked to himself, feeling down about it.

"WELL, YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD, YOU INSENSITIVE MALE JERK!" a rather annoyed feminine voice called out, surprising Alastor, and causing both Charlotte and Sam to groan in annoyance.

"You think you're being a jerk, then you haven't met this ASSHOLE!" Sam barked out, standing up and jumping over the small fence. Alastor proceeded to follow the Poochyena while Charlotte comfits Peter.

What Alastor saw on the other side of the small fence completely bewildered him. There stood in front of him and Alastor was a Riolu, of average height and had her paws on her hips. However, what startled Alastor the most was the Riolu's appearance.

First of all, three ear piercings can be clearly seen on the Riolu's left aura sensor. All three of them are hoop ear-rings, which get larger in size from the first to the third. Another piercing can be seen on the Riolu's lower lip, it being a ring piercing. The last piercing that the Riolu has is another hoop but on her left ear.

A light purple bandana is hanging around the Riolu's neck, while the pads on the back of her paws are coloured pink. Her eyes are blue, probably from contacts as normally Riolu's eyes are red. This Riolu is currently wearing a disgusted frown on her face.

Sam stepped forward, teeth baring in annoyance. "What the hell do you want, Fall?!" Sam questioned to the oddly-looking Riolu, whose name is Fall. "Here to pick on Peter again?! Leave him alone, he's just lost his grandfather!"

Fall chuckled, looking at her paws like she just had a manicure or something. "Heh, heh….that's the reason why I'm here, you insolent dog!" Fall cackled a little, with ill intent. "I'm here to remind that mentally defective Espurr that his POOR grandfather has been murdered, making the world a better place! Well, if the little retardo ACTUALLY understands me!"

"Hey, hey!" Alastor went, stepping forward, appalled by Fall's choice in language. "Watch your language! Peter isn't dumb at all, he's really bright!"

Fall stared at Alastor with a somewhat confused but mostly revolted look. "And who are you supposed to be?" the punk Riolu questioned, confusing Alastor a lot.

Alastor rubbed the back of his head, in some confusion. "Well, I'm Alastor…Please to meet you, I guess?"

"Are you gay, trans, non-binary, ace or lesbian?" Fall seriously asked Alastor, with the most disgusted look on her face. "And what's your ethnic background? Is your family completely British or do you have any ethnic members of your family? Either from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn or Sinnoh."

This took Alastor aback quite a bit, startled by these question. "Um….I'm not gay, I do believe I'm not transgendered, the hell's non-binary, I find girls attractive, and I'm not a girl myself….." The Prinplup went nervously, looking over to Sam, who was just glaring down Fall with the most furious intent. "As for my ethnic background, I'm…..half British, I guess? My dad was an orphan but he was of Unovian decent, and my mum's family was from Kalos, so I don't really know…."

"Eck!" Fall replied in digest, sounding like she was gagging on something. "You're a cis male, aren't you? Your opinion doesn't matter to me at all, unless you're a member of the LGBT+ or have an ethnic background which is a minority in our country! You're a sexist, racist scumbag!"

Alastor becomes completely silent by this, completely shocked by Fall's rude behaviour. Sam rolled his eyes, looking at Fall with discontent. "Fall is what some Pokémon call a 'Social Justice Warrior', which translates to me: 'a pain in the absolute arse!'"

Fall flicked up her right aura sensor in a sassy manner. "For your information once again, SAMUEL, a social justice warrior fights for equality for all woman and female Pokémon of ethnic origin and types!" the punky Riolu remarked, smirking a little. "For as long as time has begun, woman has always been the weaker sex! I say no more! I want to prove to the world that woman are not only equal to you disgusting men, but superior! I'm part of a group that will get more rights for woman!"

"Err, what about men?" Alastor innocently questioned, causing Fall to give a death glare at him and Sam to gain a worried expression. Alastor looked round nervously, unsure on what to say. "Well, it may be true that in our current day and age that men might have an advantage in some areas, which from I heard, but there are also areas that woman are superior in. To get true equality, wouldn't it be best for both men and woman to have equal rights? It would be rather hypocritical for one gender to be superior to the other, right?"

"YOU IGNORANT, CIS, MALE, SEXIST SCUMBAG!" Fall screamed at Alastor with livid intent. The said Prinplup jumped back in shock. Charlotte suddenly shot through the flowers, looking angry at Fall.

"Oh great, it's you!" Charlotte went, looking furious at Fall's appearance. "Here to pick on Peter again, are you?! Even after his grandfather died?!"

Charlotte cracked her claws to prepare to fight. "If you wanna do that, you gotta get through me!" she remarked, with a scary grin on her face. "Got that?!"

"Hmph!" Fall huffed, turning around from the group with a mean look on her face. "I got no beef with you this time, traitor. I'll guess I'll call out how much of a horrible Pokémon Peter's grandfather was later on…."

"Wait, Amos was a kind Pokémon! How was he horrible?!" Alastor questioned, jumping into the conversation, trying to make sense on what's happening at the moment. Fall turned to Alastor once again and gave him a digested look.

"Amos Lettigo was a Christian. Christianity, for centuries, have persecuted and discriminated against the LGBT+." Fall calmly explained, and before Alastor could argue against that statement, she cut in before he could get a word in. "I don't care if he didn't discriminate. To me, everyone who is religious is homophobic! Everyone who's religious is a stain on the name of good Pokémon everywhere!"

Fall smirked confidently. "I'm glad that less and less Pokémon are becoming religious these days. Soon, we'll have a world where LGBT+ can live in peace!"

Charlotte pinched the area between her eyes. "You're giving me a headache, you know?" she asked rhetorically, rather annoyed by the piercing-covered Riolu's presence. "Pokémon can support the LGBT+ AND still be religious, you know? Amos was a supporter of that community, and he was religious. What you're saying is no sense at all! There's many grey areas in our world, not everything has to be black and white!"

"Hmph!" Fall huffed again, crossing her arms in annoyance. "I shouldn't waste my breath on ignorant fools like you, especially a traitor like you, Charlotte!"

As Charlotte scowled angrily, Fall turned to Sam with an displeased look. "Simone wanted me to tell you that my brother Vincent got his hearing-aids back, if you can call them that…." She remarked, looking away. Sam simply nodded, taking a step back.

"That's good to know. I'm still angry at that kid that broke them…." The Poochyena affirmed causally, looking over to Peter, who is hiding behind Charlotte in fear of Fall. "But, you can go away now. I don't appreciate your presence HERE."

Fall smirked once again, shrugging her shoulders. "Heh heh heh…..Whatever. I don't have time to waste my breath on pathetic scum like you. I'm gonna make the world a better place…."

Fall began to walk away from the group. Alastor, still reeling in from the confusing things that Fall said, simply blinked. "Wow….what a bitch she was." He simply stated, catching Sam and Charlotte off guard.

Seeing that Fall didn't hear what Alastor said, the Poochyena and the Charmeleon burst out in laughter at Alastor's comment, with Peter looking confused. Wiping a tear away from her eye, Charlotte grinned.

"Hehehe….wow, Alastor! I didn't expect that at ALL!" Charlotte said with laughter in her voice, grinning at Alastor's shared hatred of Fall. Alastor looked at Charlotte with a blank expression.

"What? She's an edgy twelve year old."

"AHAHAHAHAHA!"

* * *

**Meanwhile…..**

* * *

The air was dense and heavy, as Lucy, Jack and Kiri walked through the forest path that leads to the old abandoned house in the woods (well isn't that a trope?). Despite it being day at the current time, most of the trees amongst this path block the sunlight, giving this path a dark, shaded look.

Lucy looked around rather nervously as she walked along the somewhat muddy path. She felt like something is watching her, something in the woods watching her from a distance. As Kiri continued to walk towards where this old abandoned house in the woods is, Jack paused, and turned to Lucy with a concerned expression on her face.

"Oi, 'hat the matter, Lucy?" the Irish Luxio asked sincerely, seeing the paranoid look on her face. "Ya looking rather quare at the moment? Someting wrong?"

Lucy looked round once again. "I'm…..getting the feeling like we're being watched by someone….or something…." The young Kirlia replied, eyes darting around the place. Seeing nothing move amongst the darken forest, with all of its tall trees blocking most of the sunlight, as the low growing bushes move gently in the wind. Jack nodded, understanding that feeling.

"Corruptors come through 'ere all the time, so it would be whist normal to feel like 'hat." Jack simply replied, frowning as she looked back on the path that the three walked on. "Low-levelled wans though…They're probably too scared to fight me! I'll bleeding hames them!"

Jack frowned even more, looking confused. "Though we should be seeing wan or two…Tis bit queer at the moment on 'ow they're not turning up….."

Lucy nodded, continuing to walk with Jack to catch up with Kiri. The sentence that Jack just said concerned her. There SHOULD be some Corruptors about, even with Lucy's, Kiri's and Jack's presence on the path, but yet…there's none. Lucy is getting a bad feeling about this!

As soon as Jack and Lucy has caught up with Kiri, Lucy was treated to the sight of the abandoned house in front of them. The young Kirlia gasped in the sight of the house.

Surrounded by trees and covered by ivy, the house is a two story building. With a balcony over the entrance, the front door is covered by shadows, though Lucy can see that it's a dark, decomposing reddish-brown colour. The windows on the ground floor are boarded up with several pieces of plywood, but due to them being so long and being so old that it looks like they could fall off at any moment if touched!

The same could be said for the windows on the top floor, being boarded up. One window isn't boarded up though, as the boards had fell off over time. A same coloured door that was the entrance to the balcony could be barely seen, due to the shadows. Lucy presumes it was the same colour as the door in front of her. A feeling of massive dread overcame Lucy, as something bad had happened here.

"W-w-what is this p-place?" Lucy stuttered nervously, clutching her cross in paranoia of something jumping out at her. Kiri simply looked at the abandoned house and took a step forward.

"This house belonged to the infamous pirate Brook Sans-Lewis, captain of the Frozen Skull crew." Kiri simply said. "This was her hideout, where she and her crew stayed whenever they were in Fougueux Ville."

"Pirates?" Lucy goes, surprised by this, looking keenly at the house. "I've heard about some bit about the Frozen Skull pirates, that they really liked music, but that's about it. Are we also searching for treasure along with Corruptors?"

"Iie." Kiri simply stated in Japanese, to say no. "Brook Sans-Lewis hid her treasure somewhere in Fougueux Ville, according to legend. Many people have tried looking here but no one has succeeded. Just a lot of level 5 Corruptors live here."

Lucy nodded, beginning to think. Suddenly, a thought pops into her head. "Wait a second, I still don't know what ACTUAL Pokémon Wrathfire is!" she stated rather worryingly, catching both Kiri and Jack off guard. "I KNOW he's a fire type, but that doesn't actually help at all!"

"I agrees." Jack affirmed, looking serious as she said that. "I 'aven't got a fecking idea what type of Pokémon that chancer is! Intoxiquer never told us! And besides, isn't tis place 'ave fire Corruptors normally?!"

Kiri sweatdropped, just realizing this herself as well. "Hmm….That is a problem…..sumimasen…." she went, taking out her phone. "Just gonna take a phone call to the guild….."

Kiri walked off for a few meters to ring someone at the guild about what Pokémon Wrathfire is, which Jack and Lucy were left to their own devices.

"I never knew that the Frozen Skull pirates had a base here in Fougueux Ville. Do you?" Lucy questioned curiously. Jack nodded, grinning slightly.

"Aye, I did." The Irish Luxio went. "The Frozen Skull pirates actually came 'ere to Fougueux Ville a lot in da past, around 500 years ago. They were mighty to the locals, as I mean, good. 'hose pirates never terrorised 'his town and the locals minded 'hem every time they came to shore."

Jack then frowned. "It's a bit strange 'ow they disappeared around 500 years ago….wan day, out of thin air. They stopped being recorded in the town's history, and this house was abandoned like scum. Tis quare….."

Lucy blinked, surprised by this. She then saw Jack had suddenly realized something, as the expression dawned on her. "Ah, forget to mention someting! Feel like a tool for forgetting…." Jack remarked, feeling somewhat embarrassed about it, from what Lucy can tell. "Ya see, when normal-minded Corruptors thinks they're alone, they tend to sing for some quare reason…..If ya 'ear singing, a normal-minded Corruptor is nearby….though, ya won't know what colour the Corruptor is….."

Lucy cocked her head slightly, looking confused. "Normal-minded? What do you mean by that, Jack?"

"Well, ya see, when a Pokémon's soul becomes Corrupted, there's a wee chance of losing it's mind, due to their dark side or good side taking over their mind, depending on 'hat colour they're becoming." Jack simply explained, scowling. "Normally, their mind fights back and is okay, which to the Red Corruptors, is deadly good and rather jammy, but the off chancer the mind loses, da Corruptors becomes like a primal beasts, which is rather savage to us.

Primal Corruptors are rather unpredictable, and me knows they're totally rotten to da core! Normal-minded Corruptors are a mighty threat, but a Primal Corruptors are too savage, which is worse if they're level 1 Corruptors….."

Jack grinned, heartily. "But, be thankfuls 'hat they are rare!" she remarked, looking cheerfully. She then dropped her frown, realizing something bad. "Though, 'hat Bonecruncher Corruptor 'appened to be a primal yellow Corruptor! Bad luck, methinks!"

Lucy nodded, looking concerned. Before she could even think, Kiri came back with a frown on her fact. "Bad news, I have here…." She goes, looking concerned. "It appears Owner-San has his mobile phone off at the moment. Ivory said she can't reach him, but will have a look in Amos' old study to find a clue. One of the other teams is going off their mission to find Ot-, I mean, Owner-San to get the information on what Pokémon Wrathfire is."

Kiri cocked her head in disappointment. "Gomen'nasai….I don't really have any other information…." She said with a disappointed tone in her voice.

Jack shook her head. "Tis fine, Kiri! It's not yer fault 'hat 'appened!" she remarked, smiling cheerfully to make Kiri feel better. Lucy simply nodded, not sure on what's happening.

Kiri said nothing, deep in her own thoughts. She then looked at the door to the abandoned house. Glancing over to Jack and Lucy, who nodded to say that they are ready, Kiri headed over to the door with them.

Grasping the rusty handle of the door, Kiri opens the entrance to the abandoned house. With a loud and ominous creek, the door opens quite quickly, letting some light in otherwise dark house. Lucy peered into the shadows, seeing a broken and unstable wooden floor right in front of her. The floor looks mostly unstable due to them being somewhat rotten. To the left, what appears to be a set a stairs, well what remains of it? A few holes can be seen within the shadows. To the back of the hallway that the front door opens to is two more doors, one directly on the back wall while the other was directly to its left. The shadows within the house hid what those doors lead to.

"Woah…." Lucy goes, amazed by the house's inside shadows as Kiri and Jack go ahead in front of her. A chill goes down Lucy's spine, as a cold breeze flew past right here. "….this really feels like a haunted house….."

Jack chucked lightly as Kiri tested the floor to make sure it's safe enough to walk on. "Aye, yer be right on 'hat, with the Corruptors about….!" Jack goes, rather cheerfully. Suddenly, Kiri raised her hand, to say quiet down.

"…..Listen!" she whispered harshly, causing both the young Kirlia and the Irish Luxio to become silent and listen to whatever Kiri was trying to get them to listen to.

… _..Gather….up our rowdy crew…._

… _.It's time…. to deliver Bink's brew….._

… _..sea wind blows…..to who where knows?_

… _the waves will be our guide….._

Lucy's blood ran cold, from the ominous singing. Could this be a Corruptor? Jack did say earlier that the Corruptors that are normal-minded do tend to sing when they think they're by themselves…. Lucy continued to listen to the haunting melody of the unseen Corruptor, who seems rather sad while singing the tune. Lucy's eyes widened, upon realizing that a piano is also being played.

The young Kirlia then glanced over to Jack and Kiri. Kiri seems calm, reaching for the silver cross around her neck, while Jack seemed somewhat startled but is keeping quiet. The three continue to listen to the sad melody, sounding extremely mournfully.

… _..rays of sunshine far and wide….._

… _the birds will sing of cheerful things in circles flying by…_

… _..say goodbye to a town…._

… _..say hello to another one….._

… _..sing a song, it's not long before we leave again…._

… _.cross over the silver seas, the air guides us with a salty breeze….._

… _..day and night, to our delight, our journey never ends…._

The unseen Corruptor's singing is REALLY putting Lucy in an uneasy feeling. The ominous and mournful melody plays throughout the abandoned house, and the singing is making it much worse. Who on earth would sing something that sounds so happy in a sad and haunting way?

… _..After all is said and done….._

… _..we all end up as skeletons…._

… _..So spread your tale, from dawn to dusk, upon this lonely sea…..!_

Suddenly, the piano's melody dies down slowly, and a sadden sigh was heard. "Sigh…..I wish I wasn't trapped in this damn seal….." a voice rang out, feeling down about something. Kiri glanced over to Lucy and Jack, who looked very confused on what's happening. Kiri did a hand-signal to say ' _Follow my lead_ ' on which the two other Pokémon nodded.

"Hello? Are you there?" Kiri called out calmly, which an audible gasp soon followed, surprising Kiri herself.

"Oh hello there!" the voice replied cheerfully, somewhat happy to hear someone in the house. "You must have heard me sing, so THAT means that you're a Seer, right?"

"That's correct." Kiri simply stated, remaining calm. A chuckle was heard from the voice, an innocent one.

"That's great! I….kinda need some help….I'm…stuck in this seal-thing, I think…." The voice remarked, somewhat confused. "I'm a Red Corruptor, so you don't need to worry! Can you get this off me please?"

Kiri glanced over to Lucy and Jack, who looked unsure on what to do. Making the decision herself, Kiri heads straight for the door at the back wall, with Lucy and Jack following. Kiri lead the two in a mostly empty and dark room.

Lucy glanced round the room and saw that the only things notable within the room is that a window was at the back wall, letting some light into an otherwise shadowy room. A large, black piano can be seen from the light shining on it. And also a Red Corruptor is floating near the piano.

The Red Corruptor appears to be a Monferno in physical appearance. Like the other Corruptors that Lucy's seen before, the Monferno is a ghastly white colour and is larger than a regular Monferno. The difference for this Corrupted Monferno is that the normal blue marking and the smaller red marking above the Monferno's eyes have their colours switched round, with the smaller marking being blue and the larger marking be red.

Speaking of eyes, the eyes are also different. The pupils have become completely black while the iris has turn white, to show a dead look in the Monferno's eyes. The tuff around the Monferno's neck has turned completely black while the rings around the Monfenro's arms have turned blue. The orange and brown parts of the Monferno's body have turned white, just in different shades of white. The Monferno's flame has turned into a sickly green colour. For some odd reason, the Monferno is wearing a small-wooden cross, painted black. It hanged down low from its tuff, to the level of where the Monferno's heart would be.

True to the Corrupted style, the face of the Monferno looks like a monstrous, beastly mask, with razor-sharp teeth baring, while two small spikes are coming out both sides of the ghastly mask-face thing, both pointing down. Two larger spikes are on the Monferno's tail with one of each side pointing up while the red strip runs down the left side of the Monferno's mark in a straight line. A small hole can been seen on the Monferno's chest, where the heart would be.

The strangest thing about this Corruptor is that four large chains are wrapped around its body, two on its arms and two around its legs. A small paper seal is on its face, rather comically.

The Monferno Corruptor rubbed the back of its head sheepishly, looking embarrassed. "I wandered into this place and I accidently set off an exorcist trap. I feel quite embarrassed this happened to me! I'm normally good at avoid them….." the Monferno Corruptor stated with a somewhat rough young male voice in an embarrassed tone. "From what I can see, you're all exorcists. You should know us Corruptors can't get this stupid seal off me! Can you help?"

Kiri and Jack nodded to each other, acting like this has happened before, and head over to the Monferno Corruptor to free him, leaving Lucy by herself.

Lucy frowned to herself, watching carefully at the Monferno Corruptor as he's being freed. Something about this Corruptor is off-putting to her. Maybe it's due to bad encounters with the Corrupted before….. Bonecruncher attacking her, the Corrupted Medicham going to attack her, and even though Stringslicer is a Red one just like the Monferno, Stringslicer WAS being rude to her….

The thing is, this Corruptor is being TOO nice, too polite….. It's just off putting, that's all. Lucy watched as Kiri did several hand movements, with her hands glowing slightly. Jack was watching too, frowning a little.

"Ya lucky 'hat we were nearby by, ya tool!" Jack stated bluntly and somewhat rudely to the Monferno Corruptor. "If we 'adn't plan to come 'ere, ya would 'ave been trapped 'ere for a long time! Be careful next time, amiright?"

The Monferno Corruptor shook his head, looking still cheerful. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm just really glad you lot were here! I just had this piano to entertain me and due to this seal preventing me from leaving this room, I was literally stuck!" the Monferno Corruptor remarked, still happy.

Suddenly, realization dawned on the Monferno Corruptor's face-mask….thing. "OH! Where are my manners? My name is Iraeignis! Please to meet you! What are your names?"

"Da name's Jack, the one 'hat's freeing ya is Kiri and the Kirlia with us is Lucy!" Jack affirmed seriously, glancing at Kiri, who finished her hand-signals and ripped off the seal off from Iraeignis.

As soon as the seal was off from Iraeignis, the chains around him begin to shake violently for a few seconds. Suddenly, the chains shatter into tiny pieces, freeing Iraeignis in the process. The pieces of the chains fall down onto the floor, disappearing from existence a few minutes later. Shaking his arms and legs, Iraeignis floated around the room spinning around from happiness from being freed. He eventually floated back in front of the piano, with a grin.

"Thanks, you three! So glad I'm free now!" Iraeignis remarked, grinning with such joy and spinning around in the air, like a certain ghost Glaceon. Kiri turned to Jack, with a serious expression.

"Remind me when we get back to the guild to tell Ghoulk to re-apply the seal trap here, since another red Corruptor got trapped here again." Kiri stated calmly, which Jack replied with a nod and an 'Aye'.

Lucy continued to watch Iraeignis do his thing, when suddenly the air went cold and extremely heavy, like someone or something with a massive intent to kill was nearby. Lucy looked at Kiri, Jack and Iraeignis, who all feel the same thing. The Monferno Corruptor seems to be shaking in fear, backing away slowly while Jack and Kiri just stared at Lucy in shock and horror.

"It's….behind me, isn't it?" Lucy asked, gulping a little. Jack and Kiri nodded, still dumbfounded on what's happening. Lucy glanced behind her and gasped in horror.

The Corruptor behind her was none other than Stringslicer, but something was very, VERY wrong with the Ariados Corruptor. For starters, a large bite mark on the left side of Stringslicer's mask, evident with pus-green blood coming out of the wound. Stringslicer is also shaking extremely violently, like they're having a spasm.

But the most shocking thing of all is that Stringslicer's red stripe has turned yellow and is frothing at the mouth, staring at the group with an intent to kill them. "Kill…murder…destroy…..must…..eat…" Stringslicer goes, hoarsely and evilly.

"Holy feck, 'hat 'appened to ya, Stringslicer?!" Jack yelled at Stringslicer, too shocked to see her friend act like this. Kiri was too shocked to respond, mouth covering her mouth in horror. Lucy looked back at them with a scared look on her.

"Are you sure this is Stringslicer?! Could it just be another yellow Corruptor that happens to be an Ariados?" Lucy questioned, shaking a little in fear.

"Sore wa chigau zo!" Kiri suddenly burst out, objecting out to what Lucy said. "T-t-there's…..only one Ariados Corruptor in Fougueux…..according to Ghoulk…and…..t-t-that's Stringslicer…"

"'HAT DA HELL 'APPENDED TO YA STRINGSLICER?!" Jack roared out loud in anger and fright. "'OW DA FECK DID YA BECOME A YELLOW CORRUPTOR?! THIS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE?!"

Lucy turned round just in time to see Stringslicer firing web at Kiri and Jack, locking their hands and feet together to prevent them from fighting. Iraeignis, on the other hand, hid inside the piano. Satisfied that the two more experienced exorcists are trapped, Stringslicer crawled slowly towards Lucy in an eerie pace.

Lucy grabbed her cross, to prepare to turn into her first form of her exorcist power. But, no matter how much she tried to concentrate, fear clouded her mind and she found herself unable to transform, leaving her just holding the cross.

"What? W-what's happening?! Why can't I transform?!" Lucy asked to herself in fear as Stringslicer got even closer to her. "I…..c-c-can't fight like t-this!"

Stringslicer raised a ghastly white appendage up, with a murderous glint in their eyes, glaring at the helpless Kirlia in front of them.

" **D̹͉̗̳͛͂͒͊̓ͫͭI͜E̬̼̠͈̖̞ͨ̃͆͗̅̑.** "

* * *

 

**To be continued….**


	18. PRESS SPACE (BONDS)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We take a trip to Intoxiquer's past...

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 17:**

**PRESS SPACE (BONDS)**

* * *

_Crime Scene Log. Owner: Abbigail Attirant Angelo_

_Date: 1_ _st_ _of August, 3XXX_

_Case Number: XXXX_

_Victim: Amos Lettigo_

_Location of where the body was found: Fougueux Forest, amongst the Fantôme path._

_Cause of death: Gunshot wound to the chest. The victim bleed out._

_Investigation Notes:_

_Originally, I wasn't even planning to work during my holiday to Fougueux Ville. However, the circumstances changed that, with a lot of drama going down, which somehow ended up with my husband's adopted father being murdered. I didn't know Amos Lettigo personally, but from what I can tell, he was a kind and friendly man. He even liked me when I and my husband were dating when we were younger. My husband has been affected a lot by Amos' death, and I will do my best to find out who did it._

_Accompanying Mr Intoxiquer Kōmori, we headed to the crime scene in the middle of the forest. There, Fougueux Ville's police force had already secured the scene, with the usual yellow tape going around the area where the murder took place. Most of the officers at the crime scene were either flying types or psychic types, which makes sense since this crime scene can be easily contaminated because it's in the middle of the forest, which can lead to quick changes. It's also a good thing I brought some of my equipment with me on holiday. I shouldn't have, really, but it's a habit of mine to keep my work everyone I go. Seems like I can't take a break…._

_A Haunter came over to greet us and introduced herself to me as Detective Maya Haunts, which I did the common curtesy and introduced myself back with a hand shake. She was the head investigator for this case. A polite and efficient Haunter, she quickly explained what the investigation has found out so far to Mr Kōmori and I._

_From what Detective Haunts had found out about the murderer, they were a Pokémon that stood up on two feet, being bipedal and not four-legged or serpent-like. Due to there being rain the previous night, they couldn't EXACTLY what type of footprint was left behind, but from what they can tell, the murderer had paws on their feet. However, that doesn't help that much as there is a fair minority of Pokémon living in Fougueux Ville that have paws on their feet and walk on two legs._

_The murderer's foot prints appeared once on the path, which means they might have used the trees to find Amos amongst the Fantôme path and jumped down to confront them. Once murdering Amos Lettigo, they used the trees to get back to the town without leaving any footprints. Detective Haunts knew this as there's evidence on the trees that someone was climbing them recently, and was still fresh from being broken._

_Mr Kōmori remarked that the idea of using the trees to get escape and leaving little evidence behind was quite a clever idea and I had to agree with that. I did point out that if the murderer was a flying type, a psychic type or a Pokémon that can float in the air, which means they wouldn't have used the trees. Since they did, that means they can't float or fly around. Mr Kōmori and Detective agreed with me on that._

_I've added that evidence about the footprints, the trees and what type of Pokémon our suspect is to my crime scene log, which is a digital tablet that I keep on me._

_**Footprint Data added to the Crime Scene Log** _

_**Tree Data added to the Crime Scene Log** _

_**Suspect Data added to the Crime Scene Log** _

_As I write this, Detective Haunts is directing us to the crime scene tent. Since I won't be able to write anything for a while, I'll end it here for now. I will write more as I learn more about what happened here in the early morning of today._

* * *

"So, what do you think of the crime scene so far?" Intoxiquer went, as he and Abby went into the crime tent, where the outline of where the body was found could be seen. Abby bends down to examine the white outline tape more closely with an inquisitive look.

"Hmm….it's a bit too early to say, but the killer thought this through a lot…." Abby replied coolly, jotting down notes. "From how they'll get to Amos and how they're escape. From the looks of the footprint, they even considered what the weather would be like and how it would affected the ground. Those footprints look like they were purposely messed up…."

Intoxiquer nodded, looking outside the tent at the other investigators. Without a word, he turned back to see Abby standing back up.

"To be honest, there's not much here to see from the looks of things…." Abby remarked, looking worried. "The murder knew what they were doing. One clear shot and leaves the body where it fell, and leaving nothing behind apart from broken branches and blood. This clearly shows that this criminal was clever not to leave any evidence behind…."

Intoxiquer scowled, looking frustrated. "Geez, this sounded like one of my cases back when I use to work for the police…" the Crobat started, frown-lines appearing above his eyes. "Some punk murdered a Swampert back in Espectro City, and it took us ages to try and find where the punk shot the victim from, along with tracking him down….."

Abby raised an eyebrow, looking inquisitively at the annoyed Crobat. "You keep mentioning that you were a police officer ever since I came here for my holiday with my family…." Abby mentioned, looking unsure at the said Crobat. "But, when I met you 14 years ago when Noah and I were getting married, you never once mentioned that you were a police officer. How come you're bring it up now?"

"Back then, I didn't want to talk about it. I had stuff on my mind." Intoxiquer replied, frowning a bit sadly. "I quit my job because I became disgusted with Espectro City's police force, I had recently became a father and I had to get a new job….."

Intoxiquer then smiled a little, thinking back to the past. "If it weren't for Amos, I don't know where I would have been today." The Crobat uttered, feeling grateful to the deceased Meowstic. "I was in total despair. I would have lost Kiri before I knew it…..

Amos….he offered me a warm place for my daughter and I to stay until I could find a job to maintain a house in. Heh….even to this dark day of mine, I can still remember the friendly face he had on when he introduced me to the rest of the guild….."

Intoxiquer smiled a little more cheerfully. "I was completely indebted to Amos, and I'm still am…." The Crobat sighed, some sadness in his voice. "Before I joined the guild, I never had such great friends….I consider every single member of Spirit-Realm my family…..and it was thanks to Amos."

Intoxiquer gained a sad expression, looking down. "I owe a debt to Amos…..one that now I'll never ever get to repay…." Intoxiquer murmured to himself. "Maybe finding who killed Amos and bringing them to justice may help repay that debt…..I dunno…"

Abby nodded, getting to know Intoxiquer and his relationship with Amos a little more. "How come you quit being a police officer?" Abby questioned, crossing her arms to look at the Crobat. "I did hear some cases being solved by a Crobat at Espectro City's police department but I never crossed my mind it could have been you! From what I heard, you were 100% with your investigation, always nabbing the true culprit in the end. But one day, you just got up and left! What happened?"

Intoxiquer nodded, looking wistfully. "Well, it's a bit of a backstory, and it involves Amos a lot…. Do you want to hear it?" The Crobat explained, unsure if Abby wants to hear it. With a nod from the said Gardevoir, Intoxiquer sighed somewhat sadly. "Well, here we go….."

* * *

_**Flashback Start:** _

* * *

_When I was a child, I grew up in one of the bad areas of Espectro City, where crime was rampant. Murders, drug dealers, thieves and all the scum in-between. My home was in the middle of all this dirt and it sadden me. The neighbourhood wasn't safe for anyone to go around by themselves, and that's how I saw it up until I was seven. It was all I ever knew of my neighbourhood._

_One day when I was seven, I started to see a real change in my neighbourhood. The police began to clear up, arresting the scum that plagued my neighbourhood for years, and it made me happy. It made me idolize the police force of Espectro City. Champions of justice, they were to me! A force that will stop at nothing to provide justice to those who do ill._

_I graduate school when I was sixteen and joined the police academy as soon I could. After a few years at the academy, which was an experience in itself, I graduated and joined the police force of Espectro City, fulfilling my dream._

_I was a young man when that happened, and I quickly shot through the ranks. Before I even knew it, I was made a detective at the age of 20. A prodigy, they called me. Once I was promoted, I was placed in Division 4, Homicide Department. This department would investigate murders, by what the name of it would suggest. This is where I met Amos, known as Detective Lettigo to me at the time._

_Amos was one of the older detectives in the squadron, being there for more than twenty years. Every day, he would come in around 8:30 am, grab a coffee and work on whatever cases he was assigned to that day. Majority of the time, Amos would leave to go have a look at the crime scene, search for evidence, interview witnesses, catch the culprits or maybe just go out for a fag break. Who knows? I didn't know him that much when I first started, though he did kick that habit of his when he offered me a place at Spirit-Realm. He didn't smell of cigarettes around when he did…._

_But I digress, I'm getting off topic here! Back then I was kinda cocky, solving cases with ease. Some of the older detectives were criticising me for being too boastful and confident in my investigations skills. Amos wasn't one of them. In fact, I think he just plain ignored me for the first few months because of my cocky attitude. I don't blame him, I was such a brat back then! Haha ha…._

_Anyway, one day, the head of our department was tired of me boasting and betted that if I failed to solve a case before one of his detectives could solve it, I had to stop my boasting and help that detective with their investigations from then on until the head thought that was enough. Being the prideful punk I was, I accepted it on the condition that if I won, I would become the head of the department. Back then, I was to get a high job as soon as possible, which meant I could have shot through the ranks of the police force._

_The head of the department chose Amos to face me. That was the first time I ever actually acknowledged Amos' existence. Amos was calm and kind with me, naturally taking the bet with ease and grace, like he didn't have a care in the world. I HATED Amos back then. My ideal of what a police officer should be was nothing compared to how Amos was acting like. To me, a police officer should be tough and somewhat broody, willing to take down criminals and bad people as quickly as they can, to bring them to justice! Well, that's what the Swords of Justice would have done, right?_

_But, Amos…..he was the complete opposite of what I had idolized for years. Someone who was willing to take their time to catch criminals, was calm and collective, never lost his anger and was a generally a nice Pokémon! He made me very livid on how he was acting. In fact, I remember the first words that he said to me…_

* * *

_As a cocky young Intoxiquer Kōmori grinned to himself, thinking that this bet is going to be easy, a somewhat middle aged male Meowstic came over and raised a paw towards the said Crobat, if offering to shake it._

_Intoxiquer looked at the Meowstic with a confused look. He then looked around the department, which is filled with cubicles and desks. Most of the other detectives were looking at Intoxiquer with a confident grin, expecting something good to come out of the bet. The Crobat then turned back to the Meowstic with a confused look, but offers one of his wings to him, to shake his paw. The Meowstic smiled a kind and sincere one as he shook Intoxiquer's wing,_

" _Greetings, I'm Amos Lettigo." The Meowstic introduced himself, rather cheerfully. "Let's do well on this case, shall we?"_

* * *

_Now that I think about it, Amos was probably trying to be friendly to me, as he was with everyone else. But the bratty me back then took this as an insult, maybe thinking that Amos was looking down on me. I don't know, I don't really remember the reason but I do remember that I took it as an insult…..I think?_

_But anyway, both me and Amos took the case to see who could solve it first. By typical story trope standards, I lost that bet. At the time, I was furious that I lost but now that I think about it, I'm actually glad that I lost that bet. If I didn't lose it, I would have lost out on meeting Kiri, moving to Fougueux Ville and joined Spirit-Realm…._

_I reluctantly took up being the help to Amos' investigations, which were much different from the methods that I had used to investigate. Over time I had learned from Amos how to be less arrogant and more down to earth. That loss certainly knocked me down a few notches…._

_I investigate many different crime scenes with Amos, which I learned many things from. I used to be quite cruel to the criminals that we arrested, due to me hating bad Pokémon doing evil things, you see? However, I learned that not every criminal is a bad Pokémon. While it's true that bad Pokémon do bad things, other perspectives are also true._

_Good Pokémon can do bad things for bad reasons or for good reasons. Maybe a good Pokémon had become corrupted with their sins over the years which has lead them to do their crime despite them still doing good things, or simply had to do this bad thing for a good reason. Murdering someone to protect someone….or stealing to pay for someone's operation. Amos told me that those types of criminals had their hearts in the right places but not their minds. It was life's fault that they ended up that way. Those Pokémon didn't want to do it but they had no choice. They were forced to commit injustice because injustice got in the way. In the end, they still committed a crime but I began to feel sorry for Pokémon who had to resort to that._

_Hell, even bad Pokémon can do good things, but still doesn't matter for what bad things they had done. Amos once told me when I started to help him that an evil Pokémon can do bad things and not feel guilty about it but a bad Pokémon is someone who can still do well, someone that lost their moral way one day and can be saved if they want to. I didn't believe him at first, but now that I think about it, that may be true._

_Could you forgive someone that did wrong to you and was really feeling guilty about it? I think about that every day, ever since I left the police force…._

_...How did that happen? Well, Abby, that's a tale that pains me to this day._

_As I worked with Amos, occasionally I'd catch him talking to the walls by himself, taking pauses and speaking like he was in a conversation. I was quite perplexed about it, wondering why he was doing that. Ha, I even considered at one point thinking that Amos had gone insane! I didn't want to ask about what Amos was doing because I thought it would had been rude to ask, but the thought of it kept popping up in my mind and soon it was the only thing I could think of!_

_Naturally, Amos saw straight through me and asked what was bothering me. So, I asked him. That's how I found out about the Corrupted._

_At first, I wasn't sure if to believe Amos or not. Heck, even Amos said: "I can understand if you don't believe me, Intoxiquer. It is a hard thing to process, after all."_

_I couldn't believe that the spirits of the dead were roaming around Espectro City and were corrupted into terrible monsters! But, at the same time, I believed Amos about the Corrupted. At that point, I gotten to know Amos and how he was like. He doesn't lie unless it's for a VERY good reason, and something in me told myself that Amos wasn't lying about the Corrupted._

_Amos arranged for a special item from Spirit-Realm to be sent to me so I could see the Corrupted. Amos wasn't the head of Spirit-Realm at the time I worked with him, so that was a thing. A few days after that conversation that I had with him, Amos gave me a necklace to wear, saying that it would help me temporally see the Corrupted. And that's when I met my first one..._

* * *

" _ARGH!" Intoxiquer yelled in shock and horror, inside the almost empty police department office. In front of him was a Corrupted Ariados, staring blankly at Intoxiquer._

_The majority of the Ariados' body is a pure white, where the red parts would be. For the yellow and purple parts, instead are grey and black, respectfully in the order of what I just listed as. As for where the black parts of its body, instead a pussy-yellow colour is there instead._

_The Ariados is much larger than a regular one, looking more monstrous as well along with having spikes over its body, more dominate on its main head spike for an Ariados and front legs. However, these spikes are more curved than completely straight spikes. Furthermore, the face area looks like a more monstrous version of an Ariados' face, looking like a mask as well. An extra pair of fangs are around the Ariados' mouth, being smaller than the normal pair while its eyes are black and white. Lastly, a red strip is placed across its face, horizontally with the number 4 under its left eye._

" _Meet your first Corruptor, Intoxiquer." Amos went calmly and collectively. He gestured to the Corrupted Ariados. "This is Stringslicer, one of Spirit-Realm's Corruptor agents."_

" _YO! Do you have any food? I'm starving!" the Corrupted Ariados, known as Stringslicer, asked curiously, still startling Intoxiquer a lot. Then, Intoxiquer flapped his wings frantically in utter confusion and fright._

" _WHAT THE?!"_

* * *

_Amos let me used that necklace that he got from Spirit-Realm while on investigations. He explained to me gradually over our cases that he's able to see the Corrupted without the use of the necklace, something that I would eventually gain. He told me that though different types of Corrupted lived in Espectro City, the red ones, who are good by the way, are the most common. The yellow Corrupted hate the cities for some unknown reason, which some guilds are trying to figure out why. That was an answer to a question that I had asked on why there hasn't been tons of incidents involving the yellow Corrupted in Espectro City, considering how many souls there were in the city._

_Due to there being more red Corruptors in the city, Amos often relied on their help with his investigations, find angles and possible evidence that he wouldn't have found normally. He didn't rely on them for witness testimony, only where they saw the culprit went to or did so he could find evidence. It was a pretty smart thing to do, and I respected that. Besides, who would believe Amos that ghosts helped him with his cases? It's very hard to believe!_

_I enjoyed investigating with Amos. He had shaped me to be a real good Pokémon with a clean sense of justice. I had hoped to continue working with him even when the head decided I had learned my lesson…._

_But one day…that all changed._

_One day, there was an announcement to all departments within Espectro City's police force that an internal investigation was going to be committed to weed out corrupted officers. Since Amos and I were the good officers, I thought we would be fine. All the detectives that came before me were confident they would be fine as well. We were like a tight-knit family together, and we always called out each other out if we did something wrong…..! At least, that's what I thought._

_The officers that came after me, they were a different story. At first I thought they were good as well, on the side of justice like I was. But I found out otherwise…._

_One day, I was assigned to a case that I was the head investigator for once, and Amos was working on another case. I learned my lesson and thus investigated like how me and Amos always did, with a clear and calm head, and looking out for clues. A Lopunny by the name of Justine Case was shadowing me, seeing how I would investigate. I first thought it was a good idea, trying to train some younger detectives to be fair in the name of justice. In fact, I let her take some of the investigations of our case! However, I found this to be a mistake…_

_Justine went against every rule I set down for her! She intimidated witnesses, broke the witnesses down during so-called interviews which I would called interrogations, snapped at patrol officers for making little mistakes and I had almost found her hiding evidence so she could corner witnesses later on! I confronted her about it and Justine replied in this quote: 'To get rid of the criminal scum of Espectro City'!_

_In some way, I found myself how I used to be….._

_Of course, I told the head of the department about this and he believed me about it. He put Justine and some other rude officers in a disciplinary course, to teach those brats a lesson! However, this wasn't the last time Justine did something bad for our department. In fact, she did something worse…._

_She forged evidence, one of the worse crimes that a detective can do….She took that evidence and placed it amongst the crime scenes that Amos was investigating around the time she was in that disciplinary course, because she knew that Amos would find it. Amos' last case as a detective was a pretty big one, involving a political murder. It was a complicated case, one that Amos swore to resolve. However, due to Justine's meddling, he found evidence that he thought was genuine but was fake._

_Then, Justine blabbed to the committee that was doing the investigation anonymously, so she wouldn't get caught. She covered her tracks very well….._

_Amos was found to have forged evidence in his case, which caused the Homicide Department to engulf in a whole corruption scandal. Whilst everyone was trying to defend Amos, Justine managed to plant some more evidence within some of Amos' past cases, trying to paint him as a corrupt police officer…_

_Despite the fact that many detectives within our department, from the head of the Homicide Department to even me, the one who…..spent MANY, MANY CASES WITH AMOS TO KNOW THAT HE WASN'T BAD, HE…..WAS FIRED! I'M STILL LIVID TO THIS DAY ABOUT IT! AMOS HAD BEEN WITH THE FORCE FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS AT THAT POINT!_ _**HOW DARE THEY FIRE A RESPECTFUL OFFICER?!** _

… _..Haaaa…..haa…Sorry for yelling…..it still makes my blood boil thinking about it._

_Somehow, after Amos was fired, I knew that Justine was behind it all. Maybe it was to get back at me, or was it to get rid of the older detectives so she could have the top job? I don't really know…._

_All I did know that it was my gut instinct told me that Justine was behind it all, but I couldn't prove it. I even told the head of the department, to say that we should investigate Justine Case for corruption. Though he believed me, there was nothing that we could do. There was hardly any evidence against Justine, and she was promoted quite quickly following Amos' job termination….._

_I…..was disgusted with what happened…..corruption was taking over the police force, something I had idolized as a child….and there was nothing that I could do about it…_

_So, at the age of twenty four, I quit the Especto City police force. Around this time, I had adopted Kiri as my own daughter and I needed to find a job quick to provide for both of this. Thinking back to it now, I should have found a new job before quitting…..but…..I was too depressed and disgusted to think about it. My idol tarnished…..and I had nowhere to go…. I just had to leave…_

_I was depressed for the next few months, because I had no idea what to do with my life….If Kiri wasn't there to cheer me up and keep me going…..I…..would have ended it._

_I don't know what caused Amos to call out of the blue one day, but he said that God had sent him a message that I was in trouble about something….it sounds strange to you but at the time, I was glad he did._

_So, I confessed to him my problems and almost instantly, he offered a place at Spirit-Realm. He had recently became the head of the guild, and since he trusted me to keep the secret of the Corrupted away from the public and the rest of the department, he wanted me to live with the guild. Of course, I had to become a Seer myself and Kiri as well, though I had an inkling that she could already see them….that is a story for another time, though! Ha!_

_But anyway, I took up Amos' offer, since I had nowhere to go at the time. I moved down here to Fougueux Ville to be a member of the guild, and became a Seer as well._

_Trying to find out what I could do for a normal job along with getting paid for being part of the exorcist society, I took up book-keeping. Turns out, a lot of spells and seals to trap or exorcize the supernatural can be found in books, especially ones that are made by exorcists to sell. So, it became my job to find and gain books for Spirit-Realm, so everyone could learn different techniques against the supernatural. If any new techniques were created, I would write it down for everyone else, though I have no powers myself._

_I think this was the time when I met you for the first time, Mrs Angelo. I was still in the process of adjusting jobs, thus I didn't mention it. Besides, I hardly knew Noah, but Amos dragged me to your wedding, if you remember….hehehe…._

_But, I'm glad that I met Amos….he was a true friend to me….he was my mentor, my investigation partner…..and my friend…_

_If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have met Kiri…..nor the rest of the guild. Jack, Sam, Charlotte, Peter, Kenna, Oddwald, Marcus, Sal, Charger, Ghoulk, Ivory, Cherfryst, Bishop and Joan…..if it weren't for Amos, I wouldn't have met my extended family at all….._

_That day…..when I lost that bet…..I made a bond with Amos…..one that I'll never forget for the rest of my life… I'm grateful that I met Amos Lettigo…_

* * *

**Flashback End**

* * *

Abby stood there in silence, taking in the story that Intoxiquer told, while the said Crobat was drying off some tears, remembering the past.

Abby never knew the relationship was between Intoxiquer and Amos was, but now…..she can tell that it was pretty strong, and their bond was very close. The said Gardevoir felt a swell of sadness in her chest, feeling some of Intoxiquer's emotions. Sadness, hurt, confusion, anger, denial…..these are some of the emotion she could see and feel from Intoxiquer.

It made her wonder how Noah was feeling at the moment. Noah was closer to Amos than Intoxiquer was, since Amos was a father figure to the said Empoleon…..he must be terribly sorrowful at the moment at the moment.

A terrible feeling of uselessness feel upon Abby. She doesn't know how to deal with someone in grief…..to be honest, Abby's never been good with any other Pokémon anyway. She's always been social awkward as long as she could remember….that's why she went in forensic science, so she could focus on work.

She does loved Noah though. He was part of the group that managed to break through her social awkwardness, and took it further to ask her out. Now, the man she loves in pain, and Abby has no idea how to deal with it….

"Hey, what's with the tears here?" the Detective Haunter, known as Maya Haunts, asked as she floated into the crime tent, confused on what's happening. "I thought you two were checking out where the body was found?"

Intoxiquer quickly wiped away his tears, and composed himself. "Sorry about that. I was reminiscing about something and it drove me to tears." He quickly remarked, seriously. "Anyway, did you want something?"

Maya nodded, grinning confidently. "We found so more evidence, something that could track down the killer!" she affirmed, looking happy by this. Intoxiquer and Abby gasped and look at each other before turning back to Maya.

"What are you wait for, show us!" Intoxiquer demanded, looking deadly serious. With a nod, Maya lead them outside the crime tent over to the path, right where the police tape is to stop anyone going further to the crime scene. Stood on the tape by balancing himself, a patrol officer Dartrix can see there, holding a bag of evidence.

"Mr Kōmori and Mrs Angelo, I like you to meet patrol officer Gundham Edgeworth, an officer for Fougueux Ville's police department." Maya introduced carefully, with Gundham saluting both Intoxiquer and Abby. Intoxiquer saluted back while Abby nodded. Maya turned back to Gundham with a serious look. "Would you kindly show us what you found?"

"Indeed, Detective Haunts." The Dartrix affirmed seriously, which he then raised the back of evidence with his wing. Inside the evidence bag was black fur, and a clump of it. "While I was on patrol outside the forest to stop anyone getting in, a witness came forward. That witness was Charlie Coco, the main owner of the shop 'Coco Charlie's'.

He stated that while on the way back from work the morning of the murder, he saw a shadow burst out of the forest around the time of death and dashing off before he could see who it was. He noted that a bunch of fur came suddenly raining down afterwards. Me and some of the other officers found the area where Mr Coco saw the killer and swept up all the fur. This is what we found, Detective Haunts."

Maya nodded, looking intently at the fur. "We'll have a DNA analysis done on the fur immediately." She announced, turning to Abby as she said it. "I presume that I can rely on you to do that. Check it against the criminal DNA database for Pokémon who have criminal records in Fougueux Ville. There's a chance that our suspect is already in the database."

"Indeed. I'm very knowledgeable when it comes to DNA analysis, so I should be able to do it quickly." Abby stated seriously, looking read to work. Taking out her notepad, she jotted down the new evidence that was found that she'll analyse in just a sec.

**Black Fur added to Crime Scene**

As Abby takes the bag of evidence away from Gundham and began to take some equipment out of her bag that she brought with her, Intoxiquer raised an eyebrow, looking confused.

"Why do you think that the killer might be in the criminal database?" he asked, curious by this. Maya shrugged, not sure herself.

"To be honest, there could be no DNA match from the fur." Maya causally said, looking calm. "This seems like a clever plot to carry out, and I know the criminals here in Fougueux Ville. Arrested most of them myself. They're either one-time offenders or just plain dumb. They wouldn't be able to carry out a complicated plot like this."

Maya then glanced over to the crime tent, looking serious as she did it. "But, on the off chance that one of those punks turns out to be cleverer than they actually show, then we got a chance to catch them red-handed. That's why the DNA is important."

Intoxiquer nodded, thinking carefully. "You know, it could be possible that the shadow that Mr Coco saw last night could be unrelated to the crime at hand. I'm a night-Hoothoot sometimes, and I like to go out during the night." The Crobat remarked, looking thoughtful as he said it. "It could be possible that a Pokémon who likes to go out at night happened to be in the forest around the same time at as the murder happened. Isn't that a possibility?"

Maya nodded, not realizing it herself. However, it seem liked Gundham had some trouble with that possibility.

"Well, sir that might be wrong…." The Dartrix police officer started off, trying to be polite. "….when I was flying over here to give you the evidence, I saw more black fur across the path and on the trees leading up here…all in patches….I had to stop every time to collect it….."

Maya turned to Gundham with a surprised look. "You did? Well, good job there, Officer Edgeworth!" Maya went, quite happy to see extra work being done for the case. "Well, that establishes it then! The black fur certainly belongs to the killer!"

Intoxiquer didn't react at first, but something inside of him is telling him that this could be bad later on for some reason. He couldn't tell why though…..it was an inkling of a feeling in him. It was strange, really.

" _That reminds me….._ " the middle-aged Crobat thought to himself, just realizing it. " _….I haven't had a text from Kiri for ages….I wondering what she's doing….?_ "

Suddenly, Intoxiquer's phone went off, indicating that a text has come through. Going to answer it, Intoxiquer read the message on the screen. His eyes widened, breath goes short as a chill goes down his spine and wings.

* * *

_To Intoxiquer_

_From: Kiri_

_SOS SOS SOS SOS COME TO ABANDON HOUSE IN FOREST WRATHFIRE'S HERE LUCY'S GETTING BEATING BY HIM_

* * *

Intoxiquer quickly put his phone away just as Abby came back. "Sorry, everyone! I got to go! NOW!" he stated seriously, looking panicky as he said it.

"What's wrong?" Abby asked, confused by this as Intoxiquer begins to fly away deeper in the woods in a rushed state.

"MY DAUGHTER'S IN TROUBLE!" Intoxiquer shouted agitatedly, flapping his wings frantically as he yelled this. "AND SO'S YOURS! HURRY HURRY HURRY!"

"WHAT?!" Abby screamed, dropping the evidence onto the floor, which Maya caught quickly as the Gardevoir and the Crobat sped off to save their daughters.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Maya yelled, confused as the two retreating figures dashed off. However, her yells did not reach their eyes as they were too focused on their new task, saving their beloved daughters.

There was one thought on Intoxiquer's mind as he flew quickly and flawless through the forest, dodging and cutting down branches that were in this way so he could get to the abandoned house in the forest.

" _DON'T WORRY, KIRI! PAPA'S COMING!_ "

* * *

**To be continued…**


	19. CORRUPTED

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to the plot, Lucy deals with the out of control Stringslicer....

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 18:**

**CORRUPTED**

* * *

Lucy jumped and ducked as Stringslicer tried to kill her, screaming in fear as Stringslicer crashed their appendage into the wooden floor below. The seemingly corrupted Corruptor snapped their neck with a gruesome sound towards Lucy,

"Graaaaggghh….." Stringslicer groaned, having their body spasm occasionally as they scuttle closer to Lucy, fangs moving ready to bite. With a yelp, Lucy got up and fled the room, with Stringslicer chasing after her like a predator after its prey.

As she rushed outside the room, Lucy quickly dashed into the next room, filled with different objects such chairs, mirrors, lamps, ect, ect. However, due to the darkness within, Lucy could barely see a thing in that room, let alone paying attention to what Jack had yelled out swearing after she fled the room.

Using her psychic powers to see what the layout of the room is like; Lucy saw a large cupboard to the right of her. Detecting that Stringslicer is having trouble finding her in the room, Lucy teleported herself into the cupboard to hide from the Corrupted Ariados.

Breathing deeply in and out as quiet as she could, Lucy listened closely to Stringslicer's movement, as the Corrupted Ariados scuttles throughout the room, trying to find Lucy. The said Kirlia looked at her cross, trying to activate it to defend herself against Stringslicer.

But, despite all of that, Lucy's pink quartz cross will would activate. Lucy tightened her grip of her cross in desperation, looking angry at it. " _COME ON! WHY WON'T YOU ACTIVATE?!"_ she thought to herself fearfully and angrily, occasionally looking up to see and hear where Stringslicer is.

" **Because you let your fear cloud your actions."**

Lucy blinked, looking around for where that voice came from. The voice seemed familiar to her but at the same time, she didn't know who the voice belongs to. Lucy quickly wonder why she felt like that, but then changed over to see where Stringslicer was. She listened carefully, to hear the Corrupted Ariados' scuttles.

But, Lucy isn't hearing anything from Stringslicer. An ominous silence soon follows as Lucy is being filled with a slowly-rising sense of dread. She peeked out between the doors of the cupboard to see where Stringslicer is. " _Where is that Corruptor?_ " she pondered with some paranoia, looking around through the gaps in the door.

" **They're behind you."**

"GGGGRRRAAAAAAARRRRGHHHHH!" Stringslicer crashed through the solid wood from the right, ready to chomp on Lucy. Screeching in terror, Lucy whacked Stringslicer on the head with her cross almost instantly, even when there's chunks of wood flying. With a solid whack on the head, Stringslicer stumbled back, dazed from the attack.

Seeing this as an opportunity to escape, Lucy quickly jumped out of the cupboard and proceeded to flee out of the room, knocking down some off furniture in the process. However, Stringslicer recovered quickly than expected, and used their web at Lucy's feet to drag her back into the cupboard.

"EEK!" Lucy screamed, as the web dragged her slowly but surely back to where Stringslicer is. Grabbing her cross and keeping it close to her chest, since she's laying on her front, Lucy tries to quickly think for a plan of attack against Stringslicer, but due to all this fear that's experiencing, she can't think of anything!

" _DAMN IT! Why can't I think of everything?!"_ she thought to herself, looking at Stringslicer in terror as she was being dragged to them even more closely.

" **Clear your mind of fear. That's the answer.** "

" _That voice again….._ " Lucy thought to herself, feeling slightly calmer. " _…..I don't know who you are but…you helped warn me of Stringslicer's attack._ "

" **Indeed, I did. What of it?"**

" _I don't know what to do in this situation. I'm not used to fighting Corruptors, but even so, I don't know how to fight this one. He….she….I don't know, they are a friend to Jack and Kiri. I don't want to harm Stringslicer._ "

" **That is true. This Corruptor is a friend of them, but they have turned from red to yellow. How curious…."**

" _What can I do?_ " Lucy thought quickly, as Stringslicer stopped the dragging and prepared to strike.

" **Hit them in the head several times. It worked before once, so you might get a long time to escape if you do it multiply times!"**

"….Fresh….meat…..yum…..gragoh…" Stringslicer moaned hauntingly, appendages movingly in a zombie like manner as they prepared to strike. With one swift movement of their front appendages, Stringslicer struck at Lucy, going to stab her in the middle of her body. However, Lucy quickly spun around on the floor and whacked Stringslicer on the head again, catching them off guard.

While the Corrupted Ariados was dazed, Lucy quickly used her psychic powers to rip up the web that's tangled up on her feet. Stringslicer recovered from the whack but was promptly another whack to the head before they could recover. Lucy got up off the floor and continued to whack Stringslicer a few more times, harder than before.

Seeing that the Corrupted Ariados is severely dazed from the hits, Lucy takes this chance and proceeded to promptly flee from the room.

When she got to the hallway, she saw Jack and Kiri still stuck in the amount of web that Stringslicer had trapped them in earlier. Lucy rushed into the room to try and free them, starting with Kiri first since she's the strongest out of them.

"ABOUT FECKING TIME YA GOT 'ERE, YA EEGIT!" Jack angrily roared, struggling in the web, trying to get free. "WHERE DA FECK 'AVE YA BEEN?!"

Lucy said nothing, concentrating on freeing Kiri, who's perfectly still. The said Simipour turned her head slightly, to the obviously pissed off Irish Luxio. "You know, in all that time that you were yelling, you could have used your cross to burn your way out, you know?" Kiri sternly remarked, frowning at Jack.

"Oh!" Jack went, realizing this. With a red glow coming from inside the webs, Jack transformed into her first form. To remind you on what Jack looks like in her first form, blue flames have appeared around Jack's eyes, coming from the tear ducts. Her eyes themselves have changed colour, from the usual yellow to lighting blue. Her hair appears to be on fire as well, though it doesn't seem to be hurting her. Finally, yellow flames are engulfing her paws, all four of them.

Her silver cross has transformed into a large knight's sword, with a ribbon made from fire attached on it. However, due to the sword's large size, the end part of it ended up embedding itself into the floor.

"Feck, not again!" an annoyed Jack snapped angrily, trying to pull out her sword out from the floor. Having finished breaking the web with her psychic powers, Lucy took a step back as Kiri stepped out from the web, brushing it off.

"Arigato, Lucy-Chan. Where's Stringslicer?" Kiri stated seriously, getting straight to the point. A sudden roar from the furniture room was heard, with Lucy becoming more nervous when she heard the roar.

"T-t-t-there…." She shuttered, shivering in fear as she could sense Stringslicer getting frustrated at this little game of Torracat & Pichu. "W-w-w-where's…I-iraeignis…?"

"Hiding in 'hat damn fecking piano like a muppet!" Jack bluntly yelled, pulling out the knight's sword from the wooden floor with ease, due to how rotten the wood is. The piano rattled on the spot a little bit, just enough to make some noise.

Kiri nodded, glancing towards the doorway briefly, before turning to Lucy. "Can you activate your cross?" she asked sincerely, looking worried for Lucy's sake. When the said Kirlia hesitantly shook her head, Kiri sighed, grabbing her cross to transform into her first form, with the cross turning into a naginata.

"Jack, listen." Kiri affirmed seriously, gripping her weapon with some intensity, glancing at the doorway. "We need to capture and contain Stringslicer, so we can find out what's wrong with them. I'm going to use a capturing incantation to capture Stringslicer, but I need you to hold them off as I charge it up. You know how much time it takes, remember? Is that fine?"

"Aye!" Jack agreed, scowling as she said that. "If only we brought Sam with us, he's da best when it comes to seals and containment spells…What if 'hat incantation doesn't work?"

"Then we'll have no choice but to exorcise Stringslicer….." Kiri announced gravelly, as the sound of scuttling is creepily intensifying. A wave of dread for Stringslicer's being filled Lucy up. Her eyes widen in terror as she took a step forward.

"Why do you have to exorcise Stringslicer?!" Lucy questioned, completely baffled by this on how Kiri and Jack want to basically slay their friend. "Isn't Stringslicer your friend?!"

"Listen 'ere, feek. No matter what 'appens, me and Kiri are exorcists." Jack explained, seeing what Lucy is trying to express. "Stringslicer might be our friend, but now they're a yellow Corruptor, nan't a red wan. It pains me to say, but it's something we need to do. Stay back, it'll be messy….."

" **GRRASAAAAPPHH!** " a loud, angry, groaning roar called out. As soon as that sound was heard, a very angry Stringslicer scuttled into the room at an increasing rate, stopping in the doorway momentarily to glare furiously at Lucy. A sense of the most powerful fear filled Lucy, causing her to fall to the ground in response.

Stringslicer was frothing at the mouth in pure rage, as the Corrupted Ariados was spasming even more violently, with an intent to kill anyone in their path. The dilated pupils of Stringslicer were hauntingly staring at Lucy, while the bite wound was continuingly seeping pus-green blood.

"Kill…..destroy….feast…" Stringslicer groaned, shaking violently. They scuttle a little bit more forward. "Must…eat….must….destroy….MUST KILL! GRAAGH!"

Stringslicer pounced at Lucy, isolating her out as the weakest within the group. However, whilst in mid-air, Jack whacked Stringslicer off course, causing them to crash into a wall to the left. Kiri gripped her naginata tightly.

"Good job there, Jack." Kiri complimented, with Jack landing on the floor holding the large sword over her back. "Now, let's commence our plan!"

With a simple nod, Jack rushed over to Stringslicer to distract them whilst Kiri began her incantation, with Lucy watching with worry from the side lines. The concern for her friends was strong with the young Kirlia, not wanting any of them, even Stringslicer, to get hurt. Gripping her cross, Lucy just feels powerless and useless, not wanting anyone to get hurt in this situation. Tears form around her eyes, as she felt despair over what's happening.

" **Don't lose hope now, Lucy! There is still a way to solve this peacefully!"**

Lucy looked around as the battle went on, looking confused on where the voice is coming from. " _It's that voice again…..Where do I recognize it from….?_ " She thought to herself curiously. Suddenly, she realized where she heard it before. " _Wait a second, you're that voice who called to me at the top of the hotel!"_

" **Indeed I am. And I'm here to help you, but it might be for the last time. I can't keep this up, you know? It strains my body and mind by doing this!"**

" _What do you mean?!"_ Lucy questioned, feeling rather nervous for some reason. Suddenly, Lucy felt rather light-headed, feeling like she'll collapse any second.

" **That will be explained soon. For now, close your eyes.** "

Lucy did what the voice did, and as soon as she did that, everything went silent and obviously dark.

* * *

"Now, you can open your eyes." The voice commanded, feeling less echo-y and mysterious this time round. Lucy opened her eyes and gasped in shock. She's now back in the colourful void, with the shifting colours of the rainbow, the same one that she heard Caleb's voice in in the aftermath of Noirshiro's attack on the hotel.

However, the shock of that is dwarfed by the being in front of her, which is obviously causing her shock. The being is a small, gray, fairy-like Pokémon. It has two tails that each have a red jewel encrusted in them. The being has a partially magenta face with four long, drooping appendages and another red gem encrusted in its forehead.

"Greetings, Lucy." The being start calmly with a feminine voice, smiling gently at the young Kirlia. "I am Mesprit, the being of Emotion."

"W-w-w-what…..? H-h-h-how?" Lucy stuttered, completely shocked by the appearance of a Legendary Pokémon in front of her, one that hasn't been seen in one thousand years. Mesprit giggled a little, moving around to inspect Lucy.

"I can understand your shock. You're the first Pokémon to see a proper Legendary such as myself in a very, very, long time." Mesprit said, feeling what Lucy is thinking. "Hohohoho…..to think, a Kirlia, known as the Emotion Pokémon, would take up the mantle known as the Keeper of Love…Quite ironic isn't it?"

Before Lucy could even answer, Mesprit frowned whilst turning her back to Lucy, thinking to herself. "Though Uxie and Mewtwo keep telling me that ironic means something else…All well….."

"Hang on!" Lucy managed to get out, looking somewhat nervous to be speaking with a Legendary. Mesprit turned back round, looking surprised. "First off, how are you even speaking to me? Didn't the Legends disappear a long time ago? Didn't you say you don't know your name last time we spoke, when I awakened my powers?! And why me of all Pokémon?! I'm nothing special….."

"Hohohohoh….." Mesprit went, acting all mysterious as her left hand touched the side of her face. "A questionable Pokémon! I like that!"

Mesprit floated over to Lucy, looking gentle and graceful. "For the first question, I am speaking to you via spirit-talk. It's something that the crosses can do. You'll find out in due time what that means." The Emotion Legendary replied, acting somewhat more mysteriously. "Second, yes, yes we did. Thirdly, I lied. I wanted to know if you wanted the power of the Quartz Cross of Love, which I'm in charge of. And finally…"

Mesprit booped Lucy on the face, looking rather playful. "I'm speaking to you because you are the Keeper of Love, the relationship one." She went, turning rather serious quickly. "Your desire to keep your bond with your father despite the secret that pained you for years has attracted the Quartz Cross of Love's attention. It hasn't had a keeper in years."

"Huh?" Lucy started, calming down a little. "I attracted the cross's attention? How did I do that?"

Mesprit smiled a little, like how a kind queen treats a faithful subject. "There are many, many types of crosses that have a theme on how we feel. The Silver Cross of Anger, the Ice Cross of Sadness…. The Lighting Cross of Shock…..there are so many variants. These crosses, once they lose a keeper, will look for a new wielder for them to use. The crosses serve nothing more than being a weapon against evil spirits, violently or non-violently.

They are attracted to a Pokémon that is nearby that's feeling the theme that the cross represents in an extreme high. For example, that Poochyena friend of yours…. He has the Black Cross of Denial. That means that when the cross found him, he was extremely high in the denial emotion."

"Hmmm…..so, my cross picked me because I was high in relationship love, not romantic love?" Lucy asked, curiously, getting what Mesprit is saying. The said Legend nodded, looking seriously.

"Yes. The crosses don't just pick anyone. They'll pick Pokémon that have gone beyond the emotional horizon, ones that will do anything for the sake of their emotion." Mesprit explained simply. "In other terms, since you wanted to do anything to save your father and keep the family relationship between you two strong, the Quartz Cross of Love saw you as the perfect keeper for it."

Lucy nodded, understanding what Mesprit is getting across. "So….how are you talking to me now? Presuming from that thing you mentioned…um, spirit-talk, I guess? Does that mean you're dead?" Lucy asked somewhat hesitantly, to Mesprit. "Is the theory of the Legends being sent to a third world true?

Mesprit floated there, emotionless. She then sighed. "Yes, and no." she replied, rather quickly. Lucy could see some pain in her eyes. "The Legends…..we disappeared. There's no denying that. Let's say, the Legends…..we are neither dead or alive. Somewhere in the middle. As for the theory….I can't say. I don't even know where we are anymore…"

Despite not being specialized in emotions as much as Mesprit, Lucy could tell that's she's in pain in referring to the Plasma Event. Whatever happened to the Legends, it must be too painful for Mesprit to talk about.

Mesprit then shook her head, becoming serious. "Anyway, onto what I'm here for." She started, rather gently, which caught Lucy's attention quickly. "The problem with Stringslicer, Kiri and Jack…. You don't want any of them to get hurt, do you?"

Lucy nodded, staying silent. Mesprit smiled gently. "It's because you consider them you friends, don't you? But somehow, you're frozen in fear. Now, why is that?" Mesprit went, floating around whilst wondering this. "It could be down to the Corruptors. They are scary, after all! But I believe the problem lies deeper!"

Lucy frowned, looking confused. "Huh? What do you mean?" she asked, looking curious. Mesprit frowned, floating back over to Lucy.

"The reason that you're scared is that you don't want to lose your friends or see them hurt, because before you came to Fougueux Ville for your holiday, you never HAD any friends before, isn't it?" She stated, getting straight to the point.

Lucy froze, absolutely shocked by how Mesprit knew that. The said Legend giggled, looking amused. "The cross read your memories, and passed them over to me, well, some of it. The cross also reads your memories to see what kind of Pokémon you are. Some crosses, like yours, do this whilst the rest doesn't." Mesprit explained casually, trying not to upset Lucy.

"But anyway, you don't want your friends to get hurt because you haven't had any before, isn't it? I wonder why…?"

"I-i-i-it's…..because of…my ability…..t-t-to s-see….s-s-spirits…back when I thought it….was a-a-a condition….." Lucy stuttered whilst looking down, beginning to break down in tears. Mesprit frowned sadly, looking at Lucy with an expression that says 'Let it all out'.

"I…..was….no, still am…..being bullied for it….other Pokémon would tease me, call me horrible names…..break my school stuff…..send me horrible texts…..pick and harm me j-j-just for the fun of it…..why? All because of my condition…they f-f-found m-m-my c-c-condition…..weird…

They found it funny that I freak out about things that aren't really there, and would pick on me b-b-b-because of it…t-they w-w-w-would c-c-call me a…freak….Someone…..who doesn't d-d-d-deserve…..to…..l-l-l-live…..

M-m-m-my p-p-p-parents have t-t-tried to help me with the b-b-b-bullying problem…But…the b-b-b-bulling won't go away…I thought I could a-a-at least g-g-get away from it…..on holiday….but I've been getting m-m-m-messages from my bullies….I…..don't know where t-t-they g-g-got it from….."

More tears begin to roll down Lucy's face, as her sadness to more clearly expressed. "I…..just wanted a friend…no matter what…!" she sobbed with sadness, even more tears appearing. "I don't want Jack to get hurt…..I don't want Kiri to get hurt…..I don't want Stringslicer to get hurt…"

Lucy wiped her tears away with her arm and looked at Mesprit with some determination in her eyes, though tears were still forming, "I want to protect my friends…..and my family! No matter what!"

Mesprit nodded, looking proud of Lucy. "Hohohoho…..this is what I expect from the Keeper of Love!" the Legend of Emotion remarked, confident with Lucy. She floated up to Lucy, with only an inch between their two faces. Lucy felt nervous with a Legendary this close to her. "I don't have enough time to explain this in detail but what I am about to give you will help you with your problem. Something that will save Stringslicer from their current predicament."

"What is it?" Lucy questioned with curiosity, as Mesprit closed her eyes to channel…..whatever this thing is. Mesprit began to glow a green aura.

"To put it into layman's terms, the lyrics to a song." Mesprit replied, focusing on channel these words into Lucy's head.

"A song?" Lucy went, startled by this. Mesprit nodded, as Lucy also began to glow the green aura as well.

"It's a song that Meloetta composed a long time ago, a very long time before the Plasma Event, in collaboration and help with Giratina." Mesprit explained simply, eyes still closed. "This song has been lost for a long time, so you'll be the first in many thousand years to learn it."

"What's this song called?" Lucy once again asked, with some curiosity but mostly quite nervous about what's happening.

"'A Requiem to Revive.'" Mesprit once again replied, with the green aura disappearing around her. She then opened her eyes as her body began to fade. "I can't explain what it is now. I'm running out of time. Just use the song against Stringslicer, and the rest will follow."

"Wait, Mesprit!" Lucy went, startled as Mesprit began to disappear, fading into the background. "What if the song fails?!"

"It….won't…..trust me….." Mesprit stated, smiling gently as she faded even more into the back. "…..believe…..in…..it…..keep…out…..fear…..of…..you…tell…the purple….one….don't….lose…..hope…"

Mesprit then faded into the colourful void, as it faded to darkness.

* * *

Lucy shook her head, bewildered by what's happening. Regaining herself, she looks over to see that Kiri and Jack are still trying to restrain Stringslicer, in the shadowy room of the abandoned house of Fougueux Ville. Blinking, Lucy noticed something glowing pink to the left of her. Lookinf down, she noticed that her cross has transformed into its first form, which is a large, pink and ruby coloured cutlass.

Surprised by this, Lucy's mind suddenly starts forming letters, if she knew them from heart. They seem strangely familiar to her, which she knows shouldn't be the case. What on earth did Mesprit do to her?

And why does Lucy have the sudden strange urge to sing something?

"Common, Kiri!" Jack bluntly yelled, struggling to keep Stringslicer down, who was spewing froth from their mouth and utter gibberish. "I cannt 'ang on much long!"

Kiri replied with nothing, still focusing on her incantation. However, just as she was about to finished, Stringslicer threw Jack off into the wall beside them and quickly crawled up another wall, just as the incantation was finished, causing Kiri to miss.

"Chikushō, chikushō, BLAST IT!" Kiri yelled in frustration, annoyed that she missed. Huffing and puffing, it's clear that the incantation took a lot of energy from Kiri. Feeling frustrated, Kiri felt nothing more than that and despair. There is no choice now but to…..

Then, Kiri noticed something. A pink and red glow caught her eye and she turned round to see a shocking sight.

Lucy was there, in her first transformed state with her large cutlass to her right, glaring at Stringslicer with a somewhat serious intent. The Corruptor Ariados was standing them motionlessly, if entranced with Kiri was joined by Jack, who was very confused. "'hat da feck is 'appening?" the Irish Luxio asked, confused by this.

Then to the two-exorcist's surprise, Lucy started singing a soft but sad melody.

_Day to night, dark to light,_  
Fall the sands of time.  
Let the years like the gears  
Of a clock unwind

The melody of the song felt simple but very sad. However, at the same time, it felt uplifting, like it took away Kiri's worries in the world. Listening to the lyrics of this song, Kiri felt her worries and sadness away. Her worries for Intoxiquer and how he's coping with Amos' death…..the guild's coping with a dear friend of theirs and their leader…..gone. The worries for Peter, having lost a family member and the worries for the health of her team. Sam, Jack, Charlotte and Peter…..they all have issues that they have individually told Kiri about…..which makes Kiri worry for them. The pressure of being a leader and hoping that she hasn't lead her team into a suicide mission….

These worries…..they seem to disappear whilst listening to the melody…..like a large weight has been lifted.

_In your mind walk through time_  
Back to better days.  
Memories, like a dream,  
Wash tears away.

Kiri glanced over to Jack, who had tears in her eyes. Kiri probably knew what Jack was thinking off. There was a certain incident that occurred in Jack's past, which led her to live with Ignatius. Memories of that incident must be re-merging from Jack's mind, however, like Kiri, must be disappearing due to the song. For Jack, a large weight has been lifted.

_Like a star in the sky,_  
Darkness can't reach you  
Light the night, joy is light,  
Till the new dawn.

Then Kiri looked over to Stringslicer, who was oddly standing still for some reason. The Corruptor Ariados seems to be watching Lucy with an odd but curious intent. Considering how abnormal and wild Stringslicer was acting earlier, this is another strange development. Now that Kiri looks closer to Stringslicer, that large bite mark seems to be healing up.

_Cast away your old face_  
Let go your spite,  
With this mask I'll ask  
To borrow your light

As soon as Lucy stopped singing, silence was all what was left. Standing there speechless, Kiri watched as Jack dried her tears away, to compose herself and say something. One composed, Jack frowned, angrily. "'hat da actual fu-"

" **GRRERRRAAAAAAAGGHHHH!** " Stringslicer roared rather violently, raising their head up to the ceiling, so their yellow stripe could be seen by Jack and Kiri. Suddenly, a black, deathly smog erupted from Stringslicer's mouth, forming a cloud above the Corrupted Ariados. Completely horrified by this, Kiri was shocked even more to see that the yellow stripe was turning back into a red stripe, Stringslicer's original neutrality.

Then, with a final roar from Stringslicer, the black cloud then fused together, to create a mask resemblingly Stringslicer's mask. It then fell to the floor with a large clanging noise, which then Stringslicer collapsed on the floor.

The two experienced exorcists stood there, bewildered on what just happened, as Lucy powered down back to her normal form. With a sigh, she went to put her cross back round her neck. Realizing that Lucy had basically defeated Stringslicer with a song, both Kiri and Jack rush over to her, to question.

"LUCY!" Jack yelled, confused but somewhat proud to see that Lucy has defeated her first Corruptor, in a non-traditional way. "Ya did it! 'ow da feck did ya do 'hat?! Ya defeated Stringslicer with a song 'hat cured him! All dis is not making sense to me but ya gotta tell me!"

Lucy rubbed the back of her head, looking unsure herself. "Well, it's kinda hard to explain….but someone help me." Lucy went hesitantly, feeling bashful from the praise.

"Explain." Kiri bluntly stated, looking angry. With a yelp from Jack who was surprised to see Kiri act like this, Lucy began to explain nervously.

"Well, while you two were trying to capture Stringslicer….." Lucy started, remembering the details. "…..a voice called out to me. It had talked to me to warn me of Stringslicer's attacks when they were going to…"

"Ah! It must 'ave been Iraeignis, feek! He must 'ave help ya!" Jack remarked, looking cheerful. However, with a shake of the head from Lucy and a shake of the piano from that said Corruptor, Jack's theory has been quickly shut down.

"No, it was someone else." Lucy stated, somewhat seriously. "It was a voice that I recognized from when the hotel was attacked, though back then I still didn't know who the voice was."

"Then who was it?" Kiri asked seriously, suspicious of how Lucy could have defeat a Corruptor above her level, since Lucy is a rookie at this.

Lucy rubbed the back of her head, nervously. "Well, you're not gonna believe me when I said this, but the voice belonged to Mesprit."

With a big 'NANI?!' from Kiri in shock, Jack stepped forward, with an expression that expressed shock for something that she did not expect. "DA LEGENDARY POKEMON?! YOU MET A LEGENDARY POKEMON?!"

Lucy nodded, looking nervous about this herself. "Yeah, I was shocked as you two are. Mesprit explained that we were communicating through something called spirit-talk, which she…..never actually explained what that was….." the young Kirlia mentioned, drifting off into thought. Shaking her head, Lucy continued her explanation. "Mesprit helped me with my cross problem, on why it wouldn't activate because I was fearful. Once I gotten over that fear, she put the lyrics to a song called 'A Requiem to Revive' in my head. She told me to sing this to Stringslicer, so I did."

Lucy glanced over to the unconscious Corruptor, who is still knocked out. "I guess whatever that song did, it turned Stringslicer back into a Red Corruptor!" Lucy smiled, nervously as the two exorcists stared at her. Jack took another step forward, looking excited.

"DO YA KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?!" Jack asked, all excited and happy, dancing on the spot. "YER DA FIRST POKEMON IN A THOUSAND YEARS TO MET A LEGENDARY! HEHEHEHEH! IM SO FECKING JELLY!"

With excitement in her eyes, Jack grinned madly. "What was Mesprit like?! Was she nice?" Jack asked, looking for an answer. Lucy rubbed the back of her head once again.

"Well, she was mysterious….and haughtily for some reason." Lucy replied, unsure of what's happening. The young Kirlia then remembered something that Mesprit said before she disappeared "She said something else to me…I think she said…..'tell the purple one, don't lose hope'."

Kiri and Jack look at each other then back at Lucy, who shrugged in response. "I don't know what that means either."

"In any case, we should head back with Stringslicer…I'll ask some more questions later." Kiri stated, looking to the knocked-out Corrupted Ariados. Before the group could do anything, Stringslicer started to move, looking dizzy as they got up.

"Argh…..my everything…..it hurts…..argh….." Stringslicer remarked to themselves as they struggled to get up. Jack rushed over to Stringslicer, to help them up.

"Don't move too quickly. We don't wanna 'ave ya injured more than ya already are." Jack affirmed seriously, as she put some of Stringslicer's appendages on her back. Looking dizzy, Stringslicer looked over to Kiri. "What happened to me?"

"We were here for training." Kiri replied, glad to see that Stringslicer is back to their normal self. "We came across a Red Corruptor named Iraeignis, who was trapped in a Corruptor trap. We freed him, but you suddenly attacked us. You had turned into a yellow Corruptor."

Stringslicer nodded, thinking about what Kiri had just said. Then, suddenly, Iraeignis had appeared, looking cheerful. "Wow, guys, that was intense! Never expect to see a Corruptor being defeated with a song!"

With a warm smile from Kiri and Lucy to say hello to the Monferno Corruptor, Jack was about to say hi to Iraeignis when she noticed that Stringslicer is shaking in fear of Iraeignis. With a short of breath, Stringslicer's eyes dilated.

"KIRI, STINK GIRL! GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Stringslicer yelled, moving without though to use their web to pull both Kiri and Lucy away from Iraeignis, which all three-looked confused. "THIS CORRUPTOR….HE'S BAD BUSSINESS!"

"What da feck do ya mean, Stringslicer?!" Jack asked, concerned with Stringslicer's sudden panicking, as the Corrupted Ariados put an appendage over where their bite wound was.

"Peter noticed some strange activity from this house on Fee's scanners….." Stringslicer explained, huffing and puffing in pain as they glared at Iraeignis, who is emotionless. "So, I came to check it out. When I did…I found this asshole right here…..his kind nature….He used it in order to trick you three in freeing him…..! After I got bit, I managed to throw him into here….!"

"What do you mean!?" Kiri questioned, getting angry at Stringslicer. The said Corrupted Ariados growled in annoyance.

"Do I have to spell it out for ya?! Even the name he gave out to you is so DAMN obvious if you learned Latin!" Stringslicer snapped, angrily at the Simipour. "'Irae' means 'Wrath' and 'Ignis' means 'Fire'! Put those two words in English together and realized how he played you like a damn fiddle!"

It only took a second for Lucy to realized that that Iraeignis in English meant Wrathfire. At this point in the story, a 'no ship, Sherlock' from a certain book-shop owning Crobat would be the understand of the century.

Horrified, Lucy turned to see Kiri and Jack even more horrified than her, considering how well experience they know about Wrathfire. Kiri looked even more horrified as she was the one who freed him from the Corruptor attack. Lucy then turned back to 'Iraeignis', who's floating there, emotionless but at the same time, menacingly with shadows over his eyes.

Then, he grinned. "Well, well, well…..you couldn't let me have my fun, couldn't you, you little bug?!" the Monferno Corruptor asked rhetorically. His voice change from a rather light hearted young voice to a somewhat deeper but young sounding voice, with a bit more gruff into it to make it sound menacingly "I bit you so you'll turn into a yellow Corruptor, so I could have so fun, seeing you terrorize the ones that you consider….'friends'…..hehehehehe….it was fun while it lasted…"

The shadows over the Corrupted Monferno's eyes disappeared, replaced with an evil look in his eyes. "Well, now my little…..game has be stopped, I might as well introduce myself again, this time under my proper name…." The Monferno Corruptor politely but creepily stated, a dark smirk on his face. With a snap of his fingers, his tail burned a little hotter and the red stripe on his mask turned yellow.

"I am Wrathfire, and I like to say…'hello'."

* * *

 

**To be continued…..**


	20. All to fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> H̯̪̲̝ͭ͌̀͢͞E̪̬̳̗̲̠͎͑͊ͤ͐͘'̣̊ͥͤ͂ͪS̫͖̞̫ͩ͒̉̈́̀͗ͩ̇͝ ̫̹̬͓͖ͭ̚͝H͎̞̻̘͓̙̠̽ͪ̓̄ͮͫ̚E̷̛͚̳̼̫͎̮͗͌̇̈́̽̀̀ͅR̫̰̻̩̰̝̜ͭ̔̇̇ͤ̿͌͝Ě͉̥̰͖́̍̄̑͡ͅ.̹̯͖̺̺̤̠̪͍͊͌̉̿͗̄̚ ̭̪͓͇͔̼̒̓ͯ̀Ḫ̨̧̟͕ͫ̏͋̒ͨͫ́͑͌̀ͅĘ̵̱̟͎̙̄͐̌ͭ̉̚͝'͍̙̙͖ͤ́̄̎̍Ş̹̙͓͖̫͎̂͗̎ ̛̤̳ͧͨ̌ͨ̂̅͞ͅA̸̗̭̦̳̦̅͊ͩ͌̋̍̚͘L̷͙̙̣̬̤̜͖ͤͦ͡W̵̫̮̻̬̥̋͑͒Ä̬͎̬̞̼̼͍́ͯ͗̐̃̒̌̓̕͝Y̢̹̓̓̉ͪ͗͑͝S̷̯͓̼̤̫͙͎̀ͥ̊̈́̏͜ ̶̨̢̦͓̠͓̳̜͖̽́ͯ͋̑B̴̸͓͓̉ͭ̒̑E̢̩̬̩ͦ͊́E̴̶̲̟̘̗̠̮͊ͭN̼̗̩̲̝͙̞̉̑̇̽ͥͥ ̵̦̺̮̦͛ͧ̾̏̔́͜H̠̭̄ͨ͒͌̒È͙̹̹͕R͔͓͙̻̗͕͖ͫ̑̒̅͂̈́ͣ̆̚͢E̬̞̒ͯͧ̊ͫͬ̄͟

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 19:**

**All to fight**

* * *

To say that Lucy is absolutely terrified out of her mind right now is the understatement of the century. The most powerful Corruptor in Fougueux Ville and the one that the members of the Spirit-Realm guild fear the most is right in front of her, smirking with a dark look on his face.

"Oh….! What's with that look of yours?" Wrathfire commented curiously, but somewhat rhetorically. All of the group, with Lucy, Jack, Kiri and Stringslicer in it, all have terrified faces on them, though the last member does have some pain in their expression.

Wrathfire chuckled a little, crossing his arms. "You know, it was fun to see you trying to kill each other, Jack, Kiri and whatever your name is, bug!" Wrathfire remarked, looking eerily cheerfully for some reason. "All I had to do was give a little bite mark to that Corrupted Ariados there and then I had to wait for the fun to begin! Sure, it was fun, seeing the bug trying to murder you three…..BBBBUUUTTT….!"

Wrathfire then suddenly glared at Lucy, who squeaked and hid behind Kiri. The Simipour in question frowned at Wrathfire.

"…SOMEBODY…. ruined my fun!" he finished, a small growl emitting from him as he glared daggers at Lucy. Taken a sudden sigh, Wrathfire composed himself, taking a breath to compose himself. Once composed from his angry, Wrathfire smirked with a dark aura, putting a hand on his right cheek while using the other arm to balance the first one. With that position, it makes Wrathfire look condescending towards the group but at the same time with the dark aura, makes him look malicious as well.

"Hehehe….." Wrathfire chuckled a little, eyes a bit wider in excitement. "….Forgetting all of that, I always like to talk with my…..heh…opponents before I get to rip them to pieces….Let's start with everyone's favourite leader, Kirigiri Bijon the Simipour!"

As Kiri flinched in being called her full name and Jack and Lucy gasped in surprise that Wrathfire knew about that, the said Corruptor chuckled a little darkly, eyes stared emptily as the smirk on his face turned into a small slasher smile.

"Ohohoh, you're wondering how I knew that?" he asked rhetorically, to a nervous Kiri. The said Simipour clutch her cross, shaking at the sight of Wrathfire without a word. Wrathfire's expression did not change. "I'm Wrathfire! I know EVERYTHING about EVERYONE in this town, because I've ALWAYS BEEN watching! AND listening! Because I'm STILL HERE!"

With a click of his fingers, a giant white Monferno's hand appeared, pointing at Kiri with the thumb and the next finger out while the rest are curled in. Wrathfire changed his position to him pointing at Kiri from where he was floating.

"Kirigiri Bijon, HO BOY, are you interesting to some Pokémon! You and your brothers are orphans, abused, as I mean not discipline, by your blood parents who were later killed in a gang war, adopted by some odd Crobat and that's not the start of it!" Wrathfire exclaimed in a wild tone, slasher smile intensifying by the second. "Taken to this crap place of a town, you changed yourself to something that's false, something that Pokémon perceive you as, but as we'll know here, is a bunch of Tarous-sh-"

"D-d-damari nā!" Kiri interjected, shocked that Wrathfire knew those things about her. "H-h-how do you know about….that….."

"It's simple, little Kirigiri!" Wrathfire replied, looking confident. "I know EVERYTHING about this town….From it's residents to…"

Wrathfire's expression suddenly quickly changed to tranquil fury, if he was remembering something terrible in the past. That expression only last a second, quickly changing back to his cocky look soon after. "…to its dark past. I know everything because I've been here in this town for a long time….."

Wrathfire grinned, his dark aura intensifying as he crossed his arms with a cocky coy look on his face. "….and I hear things. Secrets, yada, ya, ect, ect…..eh, I'm getting bored explaining how I know everything! It's preeetttyy clear that I know a lot of stuff here in this stupid town so let's just get to the point here, shall we?" he asked, beginning to look bored. "I'm Wrathfire, please to meetcha, I'm scary, what are you three going to do to fight against me to think that make me see that you're not mere pests that are in my way?"

Kiri and Jack look at each other with uncertainty while Lucy continued to hide behind Kiri in fear. Jack stepped forward, not sure what on earth Wrathfire said. "Er, you wot, mate?" she questioned, completely confused by what's happening.

Wrathfire groaned, looking very annoyed. "Grr….let me say in a WAY that YOU'LL understand!" he growled, looking exasperated. "What are you going to do to stop me?"

Jack smiled, looking confident as she understood what Wrathfire said. "I'mma kick ya in da sorry behind, ya bastard!" she stated extremely confidently to the powerful Corruptor.

Wrathfire floated in the air for a few seconds, hunch over with an expression that clearly said: 'You've got to be kidding me'. With a sigh and going back into a more straighten position, Wrathfire clicked his fingers again, being his right hand. The giant white hand changed into a neutral position, and promptly smacked Jack, causing her to crash into the nearest way. The velocity of the white hand was so fast, Jack had no time to react at all! Due to that speed, the damage done to her when she crashed into the wall caused her to become dizzy, mumbling something in pain. With a yelp, and pushing through their injuries, Stringslicer scuttled over to see if Jack is okay.

"Meh, heard that before….." Wrathfire mentioned, looking bored as he glances briefly over to where Jack and Stringslicer were, before turning his attention back to Kiri and a still-frightened Lucy. He then grinned, looking excited. "So, what have you got to offer me, Kirigiri?!"

Kiri said nothing, simply pointing the sky-blue naginata at Wrathfire with a hardened grip while Lucy meekly peered out to look at Wrathfire in fear. Wrathfire continued to eerily grin, looking like he's found someone to toy with sadistically.

"Nothing, huh? That's new to me…" he said, answering for himself. "Playing with you and taking your soul for my power will be SO, MUCH FUN! However, for me, that'll be the main course!"

With a click of his fingers again, Wrathfire's giant white hand suddenly grabbed Kiri tightly and violently in an instant, deactivating Kiri's powers in the process. It then moved her out of the way, to create a large space for Wrathfire and a clearly-terrified Lucy to be in. Wrathfire laughed a little, staring menacingly at Lucy with a sadistic grin.

"…..You, little girl, are the starter, to so speak!" the Monferno Corruptor stated, looking thrilled to mess around and eventually kill Lucy. The said terrified Kirlia stepped back in fear, gripping her cross to help her fight back. Wrathfire grinned a wild slasher smile, eyes dilated as he gained a maniac's smile. "Oh, boy, this is going to be SO much fun! Haven't had much fun for years, due to that STUPID SEAL! I'm so excited, I can't just stop myself smiling in happiness!"

Lucy activated her cross, going into her first form. Pointing her large pink quartz cutlass at Wrathfire, Lucy gulped some air of confidence as she stood shaking at the sight of the Monferno Corruptor.

Unknowing to Wrathfire, Kiri managed to get her phone free from the tight grip of the ghostly hand, and is currently texting for help, though with some difficulty.

Lucy, though still shaking, gripped both of her hands onto her cutlass, looking somewhat determined at Wrathfire. "I-I-I'm not afraid of y-y-you!" Lucy shouted angrily at Wrathfire, through the thick cloud of fear in her mind. "Even if I-I-I'm n-n-not strong enough to fight you now, I need t-t-t-to try!"

Wrathfire stopped grinning madly, instead just simply smirking in amusement. "Heh, good confidence there, Lucinda. That's the first time, wait…." Wrathfire went, suddenly becoming confused and looked at his hand to count for something. He then shook his head, giving up on what he was trying to count to. "…..whatever amount of time it's taken, I think I've lost count, but you've finally got some confidence in you! About time!"

A sharp grin emerged from Wrathfire, looking naughty with a dark aura. "Unfortunately, I'm going to rip that confidence to shreds! Can't have the Knight of Love ruining what's about to happen to this town! Oh boy, it's gonna be fun!" Wrathfire said, rather calmly. He then scowled, looking angry at Lucy. "With your powers, it will interfere with everything. That's why I must get rid of you, Lucinda. As your best friend, I am very sorry."

Lucy, unable to speak, watch as Wrathfire slumped over whilst floating in the air, like a dead corpse leaning forwards. "Well then…..let's begin!"

* * *

**Battle Start!**

**Lucy Angelo Vs Wrathfire**

**(Megalo Strikes Back)**

* * *

Wrathfire floated in the air, slumped over with shadows over his eyes. Lucy stood there in the darkness, scared of the ghastly white Monferno while her friends knocked out and trapped. Wrathfire remained still and silent, very eerily strange considering how talkative he was earlier.

However, his dark aura only seemed to intensifies, giving the intention that he's going to go all out. But, the way he's just floating there, all limp with his dark aura rising is frightening Lucy.

Suddenly, Wrathfire looks up at Lucy, raising his head. Lucy gasped in horror at the sight of Wrathfire. Head covered in shadows, Wrathfire's eyes have turned completely red and a large, sadistic grin was plastered all over his face.

"I'm going to end this VERY quickly." Wrathfire stated seriously, voice deeper than before. "…..So fast….your life will be snuffed out in an instant….. Don't worry, I've done this so much, I've lost count. It will only hurt for a second."

Wrathfire suddenly did a series of arm movements with a creepy blank stare at Lucy. The first arm movement both had Wrathfire's arms stretched out, followed by them being right in front of this with one arm above his head and the other below his waist. The third had both his arms raised up like he was flexing his muscles, which quickly changed to him moving his arms to have the tallest fingers on top of his hands touching each other. The 5th arm movement was an upside-down position of the third movement while the sixth and final arm movement have his arms reaching out at Lucy.

Completely bewildered by this, Lucy's psychic senses suddenly caused her to go into overdrive in panic, telling her to deck immediately. Doing so, a line of black energy flew over Lucy's head as fast as a speeding bullet, in the shape that the first pose that Wrathfire has made first. Suddenly, two lines of black energy in the shape of the second shape appeared, causing Lucy to roll to the left to dodge it.

However, the third pose black energy shot out as soon as Lucy stopped rolling, hitting her square in the chest and causing a large, but not deep gash on her chest. Trying not to back down, Lucy immediately teleported to avoid the fourth black energy, which was effective as it collided into the wall a few meters away from where Jack had been smacked into. Lucy was hit in the back with the 5th pose, causing a gash on her back as well.

The final pose, however, Lucy stood still for, as the pose that caused the black energy to appear had left a gap in the middle, just enough for Lucy to stand in the middle mostly unharmed. It seemed that last pose was intended to hit Lucy if she moved.

After the last pose attack, Wrathfire floated there for a second, a surprised look on his face for a brief second before smirking with his dark aura and his still full red eyes. "Heh…curious. You're tougher than anyone expects…Well then, time to go somewhat out….."

Lucy stood, mildly injured with her head spinning. Before she could react, Wrathfire clicked his fingers again, causing another giant white Monferno hand to appear. Forming into a fist, the white hand launches itself as fast as a rocket towards Lucy. Dodging the fist, Lucy watched the fist crash into the wall behind her for a brief few seconds before jumping at Wrathfire with her cutlass being slash diagonally down at Wrathfire's face.

However, Wrathfire stopped Lucy's attack with a single finger, shocking the transformed Kirlia. In a flash, the Corrupted Monferno grabbed the pink quartz cutlass, twisted it around in the air while Lucy was still holding onto it, and threw it at the nearest wall, along with Lucy.

Before she could recovered from colliding with the wall, Lucy was suddenly grabbed by her hair by the giant white hand that ran itself into the wall just a minute earlier. With another click of his fingers, a third giant white hand appeared, snatching Lucy's weapon off her in almost an instant. Wrathfire floated over with a confident smirk.

"Heh…., too easy….." Wrathfire commented, floating around Lucy as he inspected her with a coy look on his face. "Now…..what should I do with my new…..punching bag?"

"LET ME GO!" Lucy screamed, trying to tear the giant fingers off her hair. "I'LL KICK YOUR ARSE! LET ME GO, YOU MONSTER!"

Wrathfire shrugged with a cocky look, one eye closed with a devilishly grin on his face. "Why should I listen to you? You're my target for this fight, after all." Wrathfire pointed out, looking amused as he continued to inspect. "I don't want listen to your pleas, I just want some simple fun!"

Floating in front of Lucy, having finished his inspection, Wrathfire paused for a moment deep in thought. Suddenly, in an instant, Wrathfire sucker punched Lucy in the stomach with a solid, power punch, causing Lucy to produce a loud, terrified and pain scream.

" **AAAARRGRGHGHHHH!** " Lucy screamed horrible as Wrathfire continued to punch her in the stomach multiple times, all with his right fist. With a dark, sadistic grin on his face, Wrathfire continues to punch Lucy even after she started to cough up blood.

"STOP IT!" Kiri screamed, looking terrified and deeply distressed for Lucy. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?"

"Heh….because I get off on it….!" Wrathfire replied by snapping his neck towards Kiri, staring eerily as he continued to punch Lucy, even to the point of some blood covering his face. Then, he paused from punching Lucy, looking bored for some reason. "Eh…..I'm bored of this method now…Maybe a different method is suitable to cure my boredom?"

Wrathfire floated to the back of Lucy, pausing for a moment again, before chuckling to himself. Seeing a method to hurt Lucy, he grabbed her arms and put one of his feet on her back. Pulling her arms, Wrathfire pushed with his foot to crack Lucy back.

" **GGRRRAAHHHH…!** " Lucy screamed in an unnatural manner, as her back begins to crack with irregular and not natural noises. Wrathfire simply smirked, looking amused as he continued to do this.

"I heard somewhere that a Zoroark did something like this to another Zoroark, though I think it was just a rumour." Wrathfire casually remarked, not really bothered by the constant screams by Lucy. "I did like the idea of it though! Breaking each bone in your victim's body individually sounds like a fun idea to me! I can't really do it to other Corruptors, granted, since we're just souls, but doing to living Pokémon like you simply fills my urges to do this!"

Breaking a few bones in Lucy's spine, Wrathfire lets go one of Lucy's arms, and proceeded to fling her around like she was a ragdoll. As he kept flinging her around, hitting her by flinging her onto the floor, Wrathfire began to look bored, beginning to pick his nose. "…But, I can't use that method forever. I got to change up my style of fighting after all!"

Wrathfire then flung Lucy at the piano like a ragdoll, causing her to crash and break the piano in the process. With a small groan, Lucy falls onto the floor, gravely injured from Wrathfire's barrage of attack. Extremely weak from the beating she got, she weakly looked up to see Wrathfire floating over and landing on the floor, crouching down with a simple, amused smile on his face.

"Sorry, I was rambling on for so long. This is the first time I've had fun in years, so I guess I was rather talkative!" Wrathfire stated, looking happy with a toothy, dark grin. "Ignore anything I said, it was me having a ramble. I've beaten you up so bad, you weren't able to get a hit on me!"

"Errugh….." Lucy coughed, spewing out blood onto the floor. "…..how…so…..fast…"

Wrathfire shook his head with his eyes closed and with a grin, looking at Lucy with a mad and excited look. "Oh, look at you! So lovely with your bones broken and your blood coming out! That's a beautiful sight to behold!" he said, satisfied with what he's done. He then stood up, and placed a foot on Lucy's head. "But, it's time to end this charade of a fight. I haven't used this method to kill a living Pokémon before, so this should be interesting. I've never crushed a Pokémon's head before!"

With a gleeful and eerily empty smile, Wrathfire began to apply pressure to Lucy's head. Kiri watched helpless as Wrathfire applied even more pressure, intending to kill Lucy. With Jack still out of commission, Stringslicer too injured to fight and Kiri herself being restrained, no wonder she felt helpless!

"STOP IT RIGHT THERE, WRATHFIRE!"

Suddenly, a large javelin-like ice spear flew passed Wrathfire's face as he quickly dodged out of the way, reliving Lucy of the pressure. Kiri gasped in surprise while Wrathfire scowled as a third Corruptor appeared, with four more ice spears floating around her claws. The one that was launched is currently embedded into the destroy piano

"Tch…...this is unusual of you…Envchill…." Wrathfire remarked, looking disappointed as the said Weavile Corruptor floated in the air with the icicle spears floating around her claws. "…for you to come here, interrupting my fun…How did you even find me?"

Envchill gained a cocky look, smirking a little. "Like I've said many times over the years, you and I are both bounded together by fate, so it's only natural I'll turn up in a place that you're at!" Envchill replied, rather mysterious and somewhat haughtily. Wrathfire muttered something rude under his breath, looking rather bitter.

"Peh, mysterious as always, but that tenacity to avoid subjects REALLY annoys me…." Wrathfire started, leaning over with a very angry expression on his face. "…do you REALLY want to unleash my wrath on you, Envchill?!"

"Well, not really…" Envchill said causally, looking around at the destruction that Wrathfire caused in the shadowy room, especially at Lucy. "….I don't actually envy the destruction you've caused here, Wrathfire!"

"Then what ARE you here for?" Wrathfire questioned, still looking angry at the Weavile Corruptor. Envchill flicked her claws down, which were previous up, and pointed at Lucy.

"To prevent this little girl from biting the dust again!" Envchill announced, looking serious. Though still trapped, Kiri gained a curious expression. Envchill continued to talk, unknowing that she was listening. "I know you, Wrathfire. VERY well. You put on a show to mess around with others, which your true intentions hide behind. I know why you want to take down this child every time, so for once since I'm curious what will happen, I'm going to stop you taking down this young child!"

"Heh heh heh heh…" Wrathfire went, straightening up and raising his arms up, two black flames appearing in his palms. "You and what army?"

Envchill said nothing, simply moving her claws. With her right claw, she did a single slash motion downwards, still staring at Wrathfire. An instant later, the giant white hand that was constricting Kiri was completely obliterated from being cut into such tiny pieces, you would need a microscope to see it!"

Kiri landed on the floor and immediately transformed into her first state, to help and also analyse how powerful Wrathfire truly is, gripping her sky-blue naginata intently to kill Wrathfire.

Then, Envchill's left claw began to glow a mysterious blue colour, which caused a blue aura to appear around Stringslicer and Jack. The blue aura only appeared for a few seconds before disappearing, which then something surprising happened. Stringslicer scuttled over, looking ready to fight as their injuries from when they were turned into a Yellow Corruptor have disappeared. The Ariados Corruptor was soon joined by Jack, having recovered from being smacked and launched into a wall.

As Wrathfire became somewhat surprised by this, Envchill smirked a little. "You think this is outnumbering you, a powerful exorcist and a VERY worried mother are about to join us very soon. So take my word as I say this: Leave the girl, or have a VERY bad time against two Corruptors and three powerful exorcists and an angry mother, do you hear me, Wrathfire?!"

"I don't know what you're playing at, Envchill, but fine!" Wrathfire barked annoyed, clicking his fingers to make the giant white hands disappear. "I'll let Lucinda live, this time round…...! Anyway, I got stuff to do! Got meet up with the guy that freed me after all!"

Wrathfire smirked, his full red eyes returning to his normal look, being black and white. "See ya! I'll always be watching you!" he quickly said, clicking his fingers and completely disappearing from the room.

* * *

**VICTORY!**

**THE WINNER IS: W̸̪̦̜͕̜̠̣̻ͤ̍ͬ̀R̜̳͇̮͚̩̭̄Aͥ̎́͏͚͖͓T̴͕̖͍̠̜̹̤̈̈͑͊̚H̢̜͙̖̪̲͋ͥ̆̀̍̉̄̒͡F̫̰̗ͣͭͥ̽ͯ͊ͫI̝̦̘͉̺͕͔͚̐ͧ̀ͨ̾̽͝R̉ͨ̂ͭͩ͘͏̲̩̳̪̪̟̺Ẻ̵̸ͩͭ҉̯͚͚͖͍ͅ**

* * *

Immediately dropping their guard, most of the group par Envchill rushed to the severely beaten body of Lucy, who's on a thread of survival. Kiri bends down, putting her head on Lucy's chest to see if her heart is still going.

"Her heart's still beating, but it's weakening!" Kiri went quickly, panicking as Lucy's blood quickly pooled, pouring into the small gaps in the wooden floor. "We're gonna lose her!"

"Oh feck me…" Jack muttered to herself quietly, horrified by the situation that's at hand. Becoming extremely pale, Jack's mind filled with thoughts of how useless she was to Lucy, being knocked almost instantly before the battle. "I….was being too cocky, I'm a right bloody eegit…"

Stringslicer remained silent, trying their hardest to think up an idea to save Lucy. Then, they happen to glance over to Envchill, who was in the middle of making her icicle spears disappear. Stringslicer's eyes widened, as their fangs begin to chatter in surprise.

"W-w-w-w-what?! You're h-h-h-here, m-m-m-my g-g-greatness?!" Stringslicer chattered nervously, shocked at the sight of Envchill. The oddly striped Weavile Corruptor gave a quick glare at Stringslicer, to shut them up.

"Silence, you chattering bug." She demanded bluntly, which Stringslicer complied immediately, due to the threating measure of Envchill's glare and a dark aura enveloping her. Once the said Ariados Corruptor became silent, Envchill turned her attention at the matter at hand, with a frown on her face.

Envchill floated over to Kiri and Jack, who are panicking at the amount of blood that's coming out of Lucy. Jack is pacing around on the spot, looking unnaturally pale. "Feck me, feck me, feck me….. if only Sam were 'ere…He'll sort this crap out…..tis is clem…."

"Move." Envchill demanded to Jack, extremely serious. The said Irish Luxio paused on the spot and turned to look at Envchill with a confused expression. Envchill stayed serious, glaring down on Jack. "I said move. I'm the only one that can save your friend at this current moment. So, unless you want here to die, I recommend that you move, NOW."

Jack reversed back up, unsure of what Envchill is about to do. The said Weavile Corruptor floated over to Lucy's weakening body. Staring with a small smile, Envchill raised a ghastly white claw up, which a light blue ring formed around her claw. She then stuck her claw out, above Lucy, which then a light blue aura, same as the ring, formed around Lucy, completely covering her.

Kiri and Jack watched in amazement as Lucy's injures begin to disappear, bones being fixed back into place with what sounds to be a crack in reverse, and all the blood that Lucy spilled was climbing back into her wounds before said wounds closed, like they never happened to hurt Lucy in the first place.

"So…..this is one of the great powers of the Great Envchill….." Stringslicer muttered to themselves, completely engross with what Envchill is doing. Suddenly, Stringslicer heard the flapping of wings approaching, and he turns to see Intoxiquer and Abby, who was wearing some sort of odd necklace around her neck. Abby gasped in horror at the sight of the recovering Lucy.

"LUCY! MY BABY!" Abby screamed in horror at the recovering sight of Lucy. Abby tried to rush over to Lucy to check if she's okay, but Kiri stopped by getting in the way. Before Abby could yell at Kiri for getting in her way, Envchill turned slight to shoot a death-chilling feeling down Abby's spine, which also in turn revealed the colour of Envchill's stripe.

"Do not interrupt me while I'm doing this. If I am interrupt, she will die and it'll be your fault. Is that clear?!" Envchill bluntly stated, causing Abby to back away a bit and nod. Seeing that she'll not be disturbed, she then turned back to focus on the matter at hand. Jack and Stringslicer walk over to the entrance of the room, where Kiri, Abby and Intoxiquer are currently at.

"Can anyone tell me what da feck is going on?!" Jack questioned, extremely bewildered by what's happening. "Who da hell is 'hat?! What da hell is she doing to feek Lucy and why da feck is 'hat stripe of hers blue?!"

Stringslicer scuttled closer, extremely mad at Jack for some strange reason. "Don't talk like that about Her Greatness! IT'S RUDE, RUDE, RUDE, RUDE, RUDE, RUDE, RRRRRRRUUUUUUUDDDDEEE!" Stringslicer screeched with an ill-mannered temper. Intoxiquer flew a bit forward, looking confused.

"Stringslicer, you know Jack's always be blunt, so you shouldn't really be mad at her for that…." Intoxiquer stated rather calmly, but at the same time, looking confused. "…..but what in the Lord's name are you talking about, Stringslicer?!"

The Corrupted Ariados turned to Intoxiquer with a serious look. "Intoxiquer, remember that one time I told you, Ignatius, Amos, Oddwald, Kenna and Ghoulk about years ago, about that special Corruptor?"

"Wait…you don't mean…..?" Intoxiquer goes, becoming slightly pale in shock. "…. the Time Corruptor?"

* * *

_Flashback Start:_

* * *

" _The Time Corruptor?" Ghoulk asked, leaning back on the chair he was sitting on, his single eyebrow furrowing from him being unsure of what he heard. "I've never heard of it!"_

_Ghoulk, Intoxiquer, Ignatius, Oddwald, Amos and Stringslicer were all sat within Spirit-Realm's guild hall, all having a private meeting. It's currently late at night and everyone has gone to bed, apart from the mentioned Pokémon. The other members of the meeting look at Stringslicer with a confused looked, while the Ariados Corruptor looked deadly serious._

" _Just because you've never heard of her doesn't mean she doesn't exist!" Stringslicer pointed out, looking nervous. "Heck, I should even talk about her, she's always wa-"_

" _What I mean is, in all my years of researching Corruptors, studying their behaviour and how they act, feed, interact with other Corruptors and what they are like, I NEVER HEARD OF A CORRUPTOR THAT CAN MANIPULATE TIME ITSELF!" Ghoulk roared out, furious at Stringslicer, slamming his hands down on the table. Amos simply banged his cane down to quieten Ghoulk._

" _Keep your voice down, Ghoulk, we don't want to wake the other member." Amos stated calmly and sternly, which the said Shiny Dusknoir sat back down in a grumble. Satisfied with that, Amos turned to Stringslicer with a concerned look. "But, Ghoulk is right. I've been working as an exorcist for years, and I've never heard a Corruptor that can control time by itself. Heck, the only Pokémon that I know that can control time itself is Dialga, but she's been missing for years, right Oddwald?"_

_Oddwald pushed up his thick-rimmed glass with a frown on his face. "That's correct, Guildmaster Amos. As a reminder, I'll say why a Corruptor able to do such a feat as control time is impossible." The Liberian Bellossom remarked cleverly but serious. He then opened up a book he was carrying, reading the research made from it._

" _As you all know, a Corruptor's abilities stem from elements, as they were in their living lives as Pokémon. Their abilities are based on an elemental type that they either couldn't use an attack of that type or had a limit number of moves of that type when they are alive._

_For example, an Volcarona Corruptor could use water based attacks despite the species not knowing any Water type moves, or a Garchomp Corruptor that can use a large amount of poison based attacks despite the species only know two attacks from TMs."_

_Oddwald looked over to Stringslicer, closing the book shut with an annoyed look. "Time, however, has never, is not and never will an element! So, this 'Time Corruptor' of yours can't exist due to the logic of our research!"_

" _Just because she has never appeared to you doesn't mean she doesn't exist!" Stringslicer argued back, looking mad. Before Ghoulk and Oddwald could retort, Ignatius jumped in to stop the arguing._

" _Okay, I'm giving Stringslicer the benefit of the doubt here, since they've been nothing but help ever since they joined Spirit-Realm." Ignatius said calmly, trying to remain neutral here. "I very doubt this information is purposely false by Stringslicer, who's giving us good information when it comes to yellow Corruptor hideouts."_

_Gaining a nod of approval from Amos and Intoxiquer, Ignatius turned to Stringslicer with a small smile from his beak. "Please, tell us what or who the Time Corruptor is."_

" _Well, I'm only giving this information because I think you lot should know it, since she's a powerful force." Stringslicer began, looking worried. "But anyway, here we go. As you all know, within each individual village, town or city, there's something called a community of Corruptors. Each community has a varied amount of different striped Corruptors, from Yellows, to Purples and lastly to Reds. The smaller the settlement, the less Corruptors you get, which the vice versa is also true._

_However, there's something isn't mentioned among your so-called up-to-date research. With each community of Corruptors, there exists a single Corruptor that is COMPLETELY unique in terms of power and stripe colour. The Time Corruptor is what I'm telling about. The Time Corruptor looks after the temporal flow throughout each town that one is based in and makes sure that it's stable. From what I heard from other Corruptors, they first appeared after Dialga disappeared along with the other Legends._

_However, that's not the extent of the Time Corruptors. They have the power to control time itself from rumours that I heard. The power to reverse time and prevent things like injuries or death from happening is one of their many powers. They can stop the time around objects or other Pokémon, stop time completely to benefit themselves when fighting others….the powers of the Time Corruptors is scary….."_

" _So, why are you telling us this?" Intoxiquer pointed out, confused. Stringslicer began to look nervous when they were asked that._

" _Remember a couple of days ago, a Pokémon attempted to shoot some police officers at point-blank range but strangely completely missed them?" Stringslicer asked, rhetorically, with most of the Pokémon within the meeting nodding. "Well, I happened to be there when the incident happened, and I got full view of Fougueux's Time Corruptor's powers. Originally, the gunman Pokémon succeeded in shooting the police offices…That image is still burnt into m-m-my…..mind….."_

_Stringslicer shivered in fear, but then continued. "However, since I was around when the Time Corruptor used her powers, I got to see what she did! She reversed time in the town, back at the precise second before the gun was fired. She then stopped time, moved the guman's aim somewhere else then started time again, completely changing the outcome of the event!_

_Once down, she saw me trying to escape…..She threatened me…she said if I ever reveal her existence to the Yellow Corruptors or where she was, she'll tear me to p-p-p-p-pieces almost instantly!"_

" _Wait, this Time Corruptor doesn't like Yellows?!" Intoxiquer interjected, confused by this. "That's means she's a Red, but all the Reds like you Stringslicer, why would she threaten you?!"_

_Stringslicer shook their head. "No, THAT'S WRONG! She ain't a Red Corruptor either! I was surprised by her since she's not a Purple either! I knew she's the Time Corruptor by her stripe!"_

" _Then what colour is this Time Corruptor? And who is she?" Amos curiously asked, concerned by this. Stringslicer sweated nervously._

" _Her stripe is blue, to signify that she's the Time Corruptor. Her name is….."_

* * *

_Flashback End:_

* * *

"….Envchill…." Intoxiquer murmured to himself, as the group watched the said Temporal Weavile Corruptor fix Lucy. "…..so this is her, huh? She's not healing Lucy…she's reversing Lucy's body back to when it wasn't injured…what…a scary power…"

As the group quietly talk about Envchill's true ability, she smiled to herself, somewhat sinisterly. " _Things are going to get interesting….._ " She darkly thought to herself as she looked up towards the window of the house, within the darkened forest, as Wrathfire watches from a distance.

Realizing that he's being watched, he grinned and without a word, clicked his fingers and promptly disappears, without a trace in the forest.

* * *

**To be continued…..**

* * *


	21. Lost to time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the group at the haunted house return to the guild, events begin to spiral out of control.

**Im 'etiam hic**

**Chapter 20:**

**Lost to time**

* * *

 "… _Geez, I wouldn't have expected anything like this to have happened to this town! It was such a nice place as well!"_

" _Well, I guess, Captain, that's what happens when we set one of our bases near by. Other pirates and sailors come to take either our bounty or our gold! Tis a shame though….."_

" _You're right, Moka. We shouldn't have set out base here. It's our fault…"_

" _Hey, CAPTAIN!"_

" _GANON, STOP SHOUTING!"_

" _Sorry, Captain, but you need to see this!"_

"… _This…is…?"_

* * *

 Envchill suddenly woke up, having dozed off at some point. Looking around sleepily, she realized that she's in Spirit-Realm's guild hall, with a large group of Pokémon on the opposite side of the room, near the entrance, talking about something. Smirking to herself and still rather tired, the Time Weavile Corruptor then dozed off to sleep, oblivious to what's being discussed.

The group consisted of Lucy, Kiri, Jack, Abby, Intoxiquer, Stringslicer, Marcus, Ivory and Cherfryst. The first five members of the group had come in after the incident with Wrathfire at the abandoned house, along with Envchill. The latter members stayed behind on Intoxiquer's orders.

"….I can't believe that Wrathfire was at THAT house!" Ivory remarked, looking startled. "Me and Stringslicer hang out AT that place a lot! To think the strongest, scariest Corruptor in town was at my favourite place to hang out at! It makes me…..want to giggle! HEHEHEHEHEHE!"

Intoxiquer gained an anime-styled sweat drop, looking unsure of what to say. "…Yeah….." he went, looking around. His eyes soon land on Envchill, who was fast asleep. "….the whole incident at that house was so unexpected! To think Wrathfire and a Corruptor that I thought didn't exist turning up at the same place at the same time….that's not a coincidence."

"Hmm." Marcus went, fiddling with his bandana around his neck. "Ghoulk once told me that Wrathfire absolutely hates Fougueux Forest. Isn't that right, Cherfryst?"

"…That's correct…." Cherfryst stated with a quiet and calm tone, remembering what her husband told her. "…..Since Wrathfire has been…sealed there for years….and repeatedly been sealed…..when he got out twice before….He would escape the forest…as soon as he…could."

"So, why would he stick around that house?" Abby questioned, frowning as she thought hard. "It's a bit weird that he's in a house in the middle of a place he hates….."

"He got caught in the Seal trap we laid there for Yellow Corruptors….." Kiri replied, half looking ashamed for herself and half angry. "….he tricked me and I freed him….if only I knew! I'm such a bakayarō!"

Intoxiquer flew a little bit forward, with a reassuring look on his face. "Don't worry about it, Kiri, my dear…..You didn't have the right information about him at the time…" the Crobat went, with a kind smile on his face. However, Kiri didn't seem satisfied.

"But it was my fault that he got free and beat, as you say, the living hell out of Lucy!" Kiri retorted back, looking angry as the said Kirlia stood there in silence, with a sad look on her face as her pink quartz cross hung around her neck and the Stringslicer mask that appeared earlier in her hands. "If it wasn't for me, Lucy wouldn't have been nearly KILLED! I'm such a MANUKE!"

Kiri headed towards the entrance ladder, looking furious as she began to climb. "Kiri, where are you going?!" Intoxiquer asked, concerned by this. Halfway up the ladder, Kiri turned her head to glare at Intoxiquer.

"I'm gonna find Wrathfire…and I'm gonna capture him…as payment for what he done under my watch!" she bluntly remarked angrily, turning her head back and climbing out of the guild, exiting out from the entrance. The rest of the group stayed silent, bewildered by this.

"…..Hmmm…." Intoxiquer sighed, looking somewhat exasperate as he flew over a little towards the table with his eyes close. "…I'll let her be. Can't argue with her when she's made up her mind….."

"….Marcus, we…..should go alert the others…..about what happened…." Cherfryst stated somewhat seriously. "…..we need to let them know that...well, what happened at the house…."

Marcus nodded, saying nothing as he's normally a Pokémon of few words. With that, he and the eyepatch-wearing Froslass go off to the communications room, to alert the other members of Spirit-Realm, leaving Lucy, Abby, Jack, Stringslicer, Ivory and Intoxiquer left. The Crobat in charge then turned to Abby, with a reassuring look.

"It's been a long day, hasn't it? It's almost 5 in the afternoon, but it feels like it's night time due to what's happened so far….." he started tiredly, not sure of what to say due to how out of energy he was from his mad rush to save Kiri. "…..but….let's go see your husband and Ignatius, shall we? I need to check up on Ignatius, see how the big guy is doing….."

With a silent nod, Intoxiquer and Abby go off to check up on Noah and Ignatius, leaving the diminishing group to themselves. As Jack glance at the sleeping Weavile Corruptor with an unsure look, Ivory floated closer to Lucy, who was staring intently at the Stringslicer Mask. Stringslicer themselves looked at the mask with a cheeky look in their eye.

"Woah, a mask of a handsome devil such as myself….what are the odds?" they commented, looking somewhat arrogant. They then scuttled on the spot, becoming more serious, looking at Lucy. "Jokes aside, why was there a mask of me made when you turned me back into a Red Corruptor?"

Lucy shook her head, confused on why this mask came into existence. "I have no clue…Maybe it has to do with that song Mesprit put into my mind?" she asked curiously, not expecting an answer. Ivory cocked her head, in confusion.

"A song?"

"Aye." Jack started, looking unsure. "Lucy got a song put in her head by Mesprit, which she sang pretty good out loud. Whatever dat scumbag Wrathfire did to Stringslicer, it came out when Lucy sang dat song. Did scare me a wee bit!"

Jack cocked her head, trying to remember. "Methinks dat song is called 'A Requiem to Revive'….."

"'A Requiem to Revive'?" Ivory questioned, surprised at the mention of that song. "Now that's a song I haven't heard in a while…..Hehehehehe…!"

"Huh, you 'eard of it?" a surprised Jack asked, bewildered by this. Ivory nodded, then span around on the spot before gaining a serious expression, unlike of her.

"Yes, I have. I heard about it around the time I died, around one hundred and ten years ago…." Ivory replied, looking somewhat concerned. "There was an issue of a Yellow Corruptor who, like Wrathfire, had the ability to turn Red Corrupted in Yellows. Once that Corruptor had been exorcized, the task was to try and turn back some of the infected Corruptors back into Red. This was back when information about the Corrupted wasn't as much as it is today. But there was something used that was useful to purify Corruptors, which was music. Apparently, all Corruptors love music."

Lucy raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Music?" she questioned, surprised by this. Ivory nodded, still looking serious but also confused.

"I don't know either! Heck, not even Stringslicer could give me an answer to why that is, but that's not what's being explained here." Ivory stated, with Stringslicer murmuring to Jack about their answer to music. "The most important thing is that music was a wat to attract and help purify Corruptors. However, one song stood out from the rest, which was 'A Requiem to Revive'."

Ivory looked down, thinking back to when this song was still being used. "It was unlike any other song that the exorcist at the time used. Whilst other songs simply either lured or sooth infected Corruptors, spirits that were turning into Corruptors living Pokémon that were infected by evil power such as Corrupted magic or demonic powers, A Requiem to Revive actually cured anyone who hears it!" Ivory continued to explain, frowning a little. "If a Yellow Corruptor were to hear it, they would either be exorcized almost instantly after the song ends or turn into a Red Corruptor, though the former happened WAY too often than the latter. The latter only happens if they were infected to become a Yellow Corruptor in the first place."

Ivory then looked back up, still frowning. "Spirits that are being turned into Corruptors would be cured of their infection, and be given a chance to move onto the afterlife, or stay around to sort out some regrets they had." The oddly looking ghost Glaceon described. "I should know, that song cured me…."

She shook her head, eyes glassing over as she remembered from what happened in the past. "Anyway, and any who were to hear it when they are alive whilst under the effects of demonic or Corruptor magic will be cured." Ivory continued to explain, almost finished. "However, once the song was finished, a mask would be created from the Corruptors."

"A….mask?" Lucy questioned, before quickly looking at the Stringslicer mask. Ivory nodded, looking serious.

"Yes. A mask is created from all Yellow Corruptors, originally yellow or had been infected to become yellow, infected spirits and living Pokémon, all resembling the Pokémon that it came from." Ivory stated seriously, looking distant. "However, the reason why the song went out of use is because of the ability it had to create these masks."

"Why is dat?" Jack remarked, looking confused. Ivory sighed, looking tired.

"Turns out the mask can do two things that all exorcists guilds at the time considered to be dangerous, since the masks became quite popular." Ivory said, looking somewhat amused but mostly down. "The first is that if you were to wear a Corruptor Mask, you'll gain some abilities from the Corruptor that the mask is based on, which sounds cool until you find that your body will physically change to resemble a hybrid between your normal species and the species the Corruptor is or was."

"So, wait!" Jack interrupted, looking surprised. "If I were to wear dat mask, I'll be a cross between a Luxio and an Ariados?!"

Ivory nodded, looking grim. "Exactly that." She stated with a frown on her face. "These masks became somewhat popular amongst exorcists to fight Corruptors, but turned weak-willed Pokémon in monster hybrids, and they became banned because of their dangerous use. The second one wasn't as dangerous as you expect, but it was a good factor in why A Requiem to Revive was lost to time."

"Which was?" Lucy went, trying to prompt Ivory into revealing what was left to know.

"The masks could be seen by non-Seers, which means the masks could be worn by then and turn into hybrids." Ivory concluded, looking serious. "If they managed to get the mask off, they'll become Seers, as their blood will be infused with spiritual power, enabling them to see the dead and naturally, the Corruptors."

"Aye, I see now why da song had to go away." Jack remarked, looking calm but still serious. "To keep da general population unware of da Corruptors is a 'ard job as it is, those masks and dat song would make da whole world banjaxed!"

Ivory nodded, smiling a little. "Exactly. That's why the song went out of use, all information about it was burnt or destroyed." The oddly looking Glaceon stated, with a small smile. She then frowned a little, remembering something. "Though there's still something that puzzled me and many exorcists around the time the song began to come into use. Nobody really knows where it came from…..it just appeared out of nowhere…"

Ivory cocked her head in confusion. "Might have to go ask Oddwald when he gets back. My question is, how did you learn that song? There's no information on what the lyrics are left!"

Lucy looked at Jack and Stringslicer with an unsure look, who the former nodded. Lucy then turned back to Ivory, and explained the vision with Mesprit earlier that day.

"Mesprit?" Ivory went, surprised with a spin in the air. "That's something I didn't expect at all! Hehehehehehe…Though, things have been very, VERY strange since this morning, when we heard….well, you know."

Not wanting to talk about Amos' death, Stringslicer stepped forward, looking confused as well. "Yeah, Wrathfire being at the house, the great Envchill wanting to save someone, the return of an old song that was lost to time and the re-appearance of a Legendary Pokemon!" the Corrupted Ariados stated with a click of their fangs. "Do you think it has to do with Amos' death?"

Ivory frowned, not sure herself. "We need to talk to Oddwald and Ghoulk when they get back. Maybe they could shed some light on this…hehehehe….." Ivory giggled to herself, beginning to floated towards the communications room. "Stringslicer, come with me. Oddwald won't believe me when I talk with him over our communications link, so come help me!"

"HE DOESN'T BELIEVE ME EITHER WHEN I TRY TO SHOW HIM NEW INFO!" Stringslicer screamed for some reason, as they scuttle over to the communications room with Ivory, leaving Lucy and Jack by themselves.

The Irish Luxio sighed, looking tired as she glanced over to the still sleeping Weavile Corruptor. "Methinks I should go take a rest….today was a bloody bad day….." she remarked, looking tired already and sounding quite down. She turned to Lucy, who was still looking at the Stringslicer mask. "Lucy, I need to say an apology to ya."

Lucy suddenly looked up, confused. "Huh? Why do you need to say sorry for?" she questioned, looking surprised.

Jack looked away, looking ashamed of herself. "It's my fault….dat ya almost died…." The Irish Luxio murmured softly, still looking away. "I…..was too cocky, thinking dat I could take Wrathfire by myself. I was such a tool to think dat, and I got knocked out straight away! If it weren't for me…..ya wouldn't got hurt…..I'm such a eegit."

"….Jack, it's okay." Lucy stated with a soft smile, after a short pause. "…..we didn't know what Wrathfire was capable of. Even I thought I could take him, despite everyone's warnings…."

Lucy took off her cross and looked at it with a determined look. "…..it looks like we'll both have to train more to reach Wrathfire's level." She affirmed, with a somewhat-surprising confident look. "If we get Kiri, Peter, Charlotte and Sam's help on taking him, we'll have a good chance."

Jack nodded, returning to her usual and cheery self. "Aye."

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" a familiar voice called out. Lucy and Jack turn towards the guild's entrance to see Charlotte jumping down from the hatch with Peter in her arms, and both Sam and Alastor falling down to the floor, which the said Poochyena bolting for the table.

"Eh?" Jack went, all confused. "What da feck is 'appening?"

"FIRST IMPRESSION!" a unfamiliar voice roared. Suddenly, a Golisopod bursts down through the entrance and crashes into the table, where Sam was hiding. Sam jumped out of the way and bolted behind Charlotte, Peter and Alastor, who looked somewhat panicked. Lucy and Jack jump back, causing Lucy to drop the Stringslicer mask.

"That!" Alastor declared, pointing at the Golisopod who was recovering from the attack. "THAT IS HAPPENING!"

"That blasted thing attack us out of nowhere!" Charlotte barked angrily, whilst holding a frightened Peter. "We'll heading to my family's shop to get some chocolate when that Golisopod attacked us out of nowhere! Scared Peter half to death with the sudden surprise!"

"Charly, I don't want to see the mean bug…" Peter murmured, hiding his face into Charlotte's body. Sam stepped forward, looking annoyed.

"That Golisopod is after me for some reason." He remarked, on edge a bit. "After it surprised us, it kept trying to attack me and was ignoring Charlotte, Peter and Alastor! I have no idea why it's attacking me, I've never met a Golisopod before!"

Alastor grimaced as the Golispod turned to them with a menacing look. "We tried to lose it but it kept following us. Sorry we've lead it into the guild."

Noticing that Envchill has awoken and is watching the scene with some amusement, Lucy was about to speak up before the Golisopod interrupted her.

"Yo, yo, yo, it's your girl, Sasha, back here in this guild ready to crush-ya!" the Golisopod rapped with a somewhat deep but husky feminine voice, moving her claws around like she was in some kind of rap routine. "The best Golisopod police officer you ever saw, so powerful that you cannot ignore!"

"What." Alastor bluntly and flatly remarked as a few seconds past as the group blankly stare as Sasha. Envchill however just smirked to herself, finding this amusing.

"Here to make an arrest, of a possible dangerous criminal, doing my best!" Sasha continued to rap, still doing her weird claw movement things. "So take a seat-ing as I metaphorically and literally give a beating! If you resist!"

Sasha then struck out a pose, to look intimidating. Lucy and the group still flatly stare at Sasha, wondering what the actual heck is going on. Envchill however like she's about to burst out laughing. Suddenly, a flapping of wings was heard, and Intoxiquer appeared, looking annoyed.

"Okay, what the hell are you kids do-" Intoxiquer began to ask, before cutting himself off as he looked at the situation, with the kids blankly looking the weird Golisopod and the broken table. "…What the f**k is happening?"

Sasha went into a neutral position, and began to pull out something from a fanny bag around her waist, which Lucy noticed as soon as the situation's tension died down. She then pulled out a police officer's badge, and showed it to Intoxiquer.

"Yo! I am Police Officer Sasha Zarya, twenty-three years old and part of Espectro City Police, currently on loan to Fougueux Ville for the investigation of Amos Lettigo's murder, former detective Intoxiquer Kōmori, yo." She stated, standing straight with a salute.

"Yeah, yeah, you don't have to remind me about my past…." Intoxiquer scowled, looking away for a second whilst bitter about the past. He then turned to Sasha, with a confused look. "….but why are you here? Why are you attacking one of the members of Spirit-Realm and breaking all our stuff? How has this to do with Amos' murder?"

Sasha reached into her bag, to pull out a notepad. "Well, Mr Kōmori, I can answer all of that with one statement!" Sasha went, looking through her notes. She then put her notepad back in her bag and then pointed at Sam as she turned to him.

"Samuel Barker, you are under arrest for the murder of Amos Lettigo, yo." Sasha stated seriously, causing everyone (par an very surprised Envchill) in the room to have their jaws drop in shock, apart from Sam, who began to pale rapidly.

"W-w-w-w-what…?" he managed to stammer out, looking totally shocked by this. "….I…I….couldn't…have….."

Sasha pulled out a restraining muzzle and a lead out of her bag, causing Sam to back away in fright. "You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence, yo." She seriously stated, moving closer to Sam. Intoxiquer flew in front of the two, looking concerned for Sam.

"Now hold on a sec, you don't need to use that thing on a four-legged Pokémon like Sam? Remember the whole police brutality thing?" Intoxiquer remarked a little bit nervously, trying to buy to buy some time to think of something. As Sasha was about to say something as she lowered down the leash and muzzle, the Crobat interrupted her. "Now, that we are now a bit calmer, are you sure it was Sam? After all, Amos was shot with a gun, and as everyone knows, four legged Pokémon can't use guns because it's nearly impossible for them, since they have no fingers to pull it. And besides, where would Sam get a gun? They're hardly made these days because everyone prefers to use moves, plus the fact he's still a kid! Heck, you should be investigating Team Spectrum! They had tons of illegal guns when we encountered them!"

"Yo, I have heard of this Team Spectrum that you're talking about, but Detective Haunts did mention it when my superior and I arrived here in Fougueux Ville, so we'll be looking into that as soon as I'm done here." Sasha said, looking cheerful. "However, yo, my superior and I know Sam's little secret, regarding his heritage and his powers, regarding his transformation stage."

"GRAGH…..!" Sam went, paling a lot. Lucy turned to look at Sam whilst this was happening also to see that Jack, Charlotte and Peter was also paling and sweating nervously. "Y-Y-Y-Y-You….k-k-k-k-know…a-a-about….. Hzn….?"

"How? HOW? How did you learn out about him?!" Intoxiquer demanded angrily, looking nervously shocked as he flew closer to Sasha. The said police officer Golisopod looked unfazed.

"My superior has her sources, and with the evidence found at the crime scene, all points to Mr Samuel Barker killing the victim." Sasha bluntly stated, lifting the muzzle and lease up. "Now, come along."

"Who the f**k is your superior?! I demanded a word with them! That information about Sam breaks privacy laws!" Intoxiquer demanded again, looking angrier as the accusations grow wilder.

"My, my, my…still have that foul mouth of yours, eh, Intoxiquer, darling?" a voice called out, taunting the said Crobat. Intoxiquer paled, as he turned to see the Pokemon he most loathes the most.

Right at the entrance of the guild, a Lopunny stood there with a callous smirk on her face. With a dark-red scarf around her neck, she played with her scarf in her hand with a somewhat dark grace as she smiled with dark intent in her eyes.

"Justine…..Case….." a somewhat calm Intoxiquer stated, hiding the building and fuming rage behind an uncanny calm face as he stared at Justine. The said Lopunny giggled mysteriously.

"Sasha, why haven't you arrested our suspect yet?" she asked, quite surprised at the fact that Sam hasn't been arrested yet. Sasha nodded, and proceed to head towards Sam, with everyone frozen with fear of what the police could do. Sam stood with terror as the Golisopod police officer came closer to him with every step.

"SAM!" Jack barked loudly, snapping Sam back in reality. "GET OUT THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Sam blinked for a moment, then nodded. Suddenly, a green aura appear around him, as his ability began to activate. "My Ability, Run Away, don't fail me now!" he declared, startling Sasha. Before she could react, Sam began to dig into the floor, using Dig to Run Away.

"Screw this crap, I'm out!" Sam yelled as he dug into the ground to flee from Sasha. The Golisopod pounced at Sam, but it was too late. Sam was too deep into his hole to capture. Sasha got back up and looked at Justine.

"I'm sorry Madam, yo, but he got away." Sasha said sadly, look ashamed of herself. Justine simply shook her head.

"It's okay, Officer Zarya. I'll simply call in the rest of our squad to perform a search of our little fugitive." Justine stated, rather calmly. She turned round towards the ladder. "Come. We'll begin our search for him."

Sasha quickly went to Justine's side and went up the ladder without any prompting. Before she left, Justine glanced back at Intoxiquer with a dark smile. "Though it was only brief, it was nice to see you again, Intoxiquer darling…." Justine remarked in a taunting manner. "…..but considering what the situation is, I think I'll get to play with you VERY soon….."

Justine then began to climb up the ladder and exited the guild, not before Intoxiquer yelled: "I AM NOT YOUR DARLING!"

"Heh, I know you don't like being called that, but it's SO fun to call you that. Anyway, a note of advice to all of you….." the Lopunny police officer stated, in a teasing manner as she climbed the ladder with grace. She then glared, with an ominous look in her eyes. "…..interfere with my investigation, and it's a one way ticket to a jail cell."

As soon as Justine left, Intoxiquer immediately turned to Jack with a serious expression. "Jack, I need you to go find Sam now! It's dangerous for him to be out there at the moment!" he stated, deadly serious about the situation at the moment. "Knowing Justine is investigating this case, it's more than likely that there's something bigger to this than we first expected!"

"Aye!" Jack nodded, frowning as she began to leave. "I'll go check out every spot where me and Jack 'ide out at! He wouldn't belt it back home, so he's got to go somewhere!"

"Lucy, Alastor, Peter and Charlotte." Intoxiquer started, looking calm. "I'm going to alert the other members of the guild and head out to try and investigate what's happening with Sam, and try to find him as well. In the meantime, I need you four to stay here, just in case he comes back here. Ignatius and Noah are still out of it, so I'm taking Mrs Angelo with me. Charlotte and Peter, you should prepare a hiding place for Sam if he turns up here. The Library is a good place, Oddwald has hiding places for everyone else's snacks, so I think there is one big enough for Sam. Lucy and Alastor, I'm counting on you to keep a look out."

Lucy and Alastor look at each with uncertainty while Peter and Charlotte nodded with determination. Intoxiquer smiled somewhat tiredly, glad to see that his guild members understand. He then glanced at Envchill, who is watching with curious intent. He decided to leave it for now, as it appears Envchill could had left at any moment but chose to stay behind.

"Anyway, I'm off." Intoxiquer stated, flying over to the communications room. Charlotte and Peter proceed to head to the library to find a hiding spot for Sam, leaving Lucy and Alastor by themselves. A somewhat-bewildered Alastor turned to Lucy, completely unsure what's happening.

"Geez, that was frightening….But, to think, Sam being accused of murder?" Alastor questioned to himself. "That's….kinda hard to believe, considering what he's done for us and what he's been like over the last few days. And who the heck is Hzn?"

"Hmm….." Lucy went, thinking to herself. "It's a really odd name to begin with, especially by Corruptor standards. That Gosliopod mentioned Hzn had something to do with Sam's heritage, so could Hzn be a family member of Sam's?"

"Judging by how Jack, Charlotte and Peter reacted to Officer Zarya saying that, they obviously know who Hzn is." Alastor affirmed, looking happy as he realised what to do. "We'll ask Charlotte and Peter once they've come back!"

Before Lucy could say anything, Envchill floated over, looking somewhat annoyed. "Hold it, I want to ask something." She demanded suddenly, getting straight to the point. Lucy jumped in surprise at Envchill suddenly coming up to her.

"Let me guess, a Corruptor wants to talk to you." Alastor asked, somewhat rhetorically. Lucy nodded, causing her brother to sigh. "All right, I'll just be over here. I feel like a side character here…."

As Alastor goes off to the side a bit to investigate a strange mask that's on the floor, Lucy's attention is fully on Envchill. "Um….hello….I'm Lucy Angelo…thank you for saving me….." Lucy started off, hesitantly, to the Time Corruptor. Envchill clicked her tongue in annoyance as she crossed her arms.

"Yeah, whatever, you're welcome. I already know your name. I'm this town's Time Corruptor and I know everyone who is in this town, temporary or not. You know my name as Envchill, judging on how much that stupid Ariados kept on blathering on about me." Envchill bluntly stated, catching Lucy off guard with her rudeness. Lucy feels like there's more than meets the eye with this certain Corruptor.

"That's…..not very nice to say about Stringslicer about that." Lucy remarked softly, looking annoyed at Envchill's rudeness. The Weavile Corruptor frowned from hearing that.

"Frankly, I don't really care for that Corruptor, since I hardly know them….." Envchill began coolly, getting to her question. "…..which leads to my question; why do you care?"

"Huh?" Lucy went, taken aback by this. Envchill sighed, and stared at Lucy with yet another annoyed look.

"Everyone that you've met so far on your holiday here over the last few days, you've only known them for a short space of time." Envchill began to explain, digging right into the details. "Total strangers up until a few days ago but you act like you've known them for a long time. Take example, that Luxio's apology to you. You hardly know her but you took that apology like she was your best friend or something, knowing it was something out of your control. Now, it seems like you're trying to investigate that Poochyena's predicament despite the fact he attacked you and your brother when you first met him, and was a complete asshole to you up until the morning of today. Why do you care so much for Pokémon that you barely known for a few days?"

Lucy was taken aback by this, looking unsure herself. She took some time to think of a proper answer, wondering this herself. "I'm…..not sure myself, but….." she began to say, opening her heart a little. "…I don't really have any friends at home…. I got bullied a lot on what I thought was a mental condition which freaks out a lot of Pokémon….. Heck, the Pokémon I consider to be closest friend is Alastor…"

Alastor glanced over, surprised by the fact that Lucy considers him as her closest friend and that she gets bullied. An inkling of guilt falls deep into his chest as he continued to listen to what Lucy is say to the Corruptor he cannot see as he holds onto the strange mask.

"…..but everyone that I've met so far….here in Fougueux Ville…they've been so nice to me, so kind….." Lucy continued to say, looking happy. "….even if I've known them for a short space of time, I've been happy around them, to have them consider me their friend. So, for that fact, I'll believe in the good in them, even though I don't know them that well."

"Huh." Envchill went, looking away. Lucy could tell Envchill wasn't impressed by her answer. However, before she could speak up, Envchill turned back to her, with a very faint smile on her face. It was barely noticeable but it caught Lucy off guard, like it was a crucial clue.

"Listen, I appreciate your honest answer, kid." Envchill began, frowning again as she floated mysteriously in the air. "To believe in others is something that most Corruptors have forgotten to do since we've died. We can have relationships between each other but normally Corruptors don't trust each other, even though they might be the same colour as each other. To hear from a living Pokémon that she can trust and believe in others, it's a concept that's completely alien to Corruptors. Though they might be an exception, I bet that Ariados Corruptor doesn't fully trust the guild members here, but that's my line of thinking."

Envchill paused for a moment, then continued what she's trying to say. "What I'm really trying to say here is don't think you're something special." She harshly stated, catching Lucy off guard. "This world…..the world of exorcists, ghosts, monsters and the Corrupted. It's something that you are entirely unfamiliar with, despite your crash course over the last few days. You may think it's something simple, but to me, you're acting like you've jumped into a whirlpool to save someone despite the fact you don't know how to swim. To put it simply, you're getting yourself into something deep and dark, and by trusting your new exorcist friends, you're putting yourself into dangerous territory."

Envchill floated down a little, and became a little more comfiting, though her harsh words continued to speak out. "There's nothing wrong with learning how to be an exorcist, but you're rushing too much, acting like a pro." Envchill warned, rather bluntly.

"You're not an expert, you're just a kid playing pretend with a powerful weapon and risking yourself. Take a step back, learn a few things, learn how to control that weapon of yours and learn for yourself. It's a good thing that you got friends to help you, but even friends can turn on you. Sam, Jack, Charlotte, Peter, Kiri, Ignatius, Intoxiquer, your father, that Lucario and that Aipom, the members of this guild, Amos although he's dead now, heck, even your own brother have their own secrets to hide. Don't be surprise when their secrets cause them to turn on you. Maybe if what I'm saying is getting into your head, maybe you wouldn't repeat the same cocky thing you tried to so with Wrathfire, thinking you can take him. Be smart for once, and think things through."

Lucy was for a lost for words, surprised by Envchill's words. Despite being extremely harsh and down-putting, in some way, Lucy had to agree with her. The world of exorcists and the supernatural…..it was something completely new to Lucy and she was head-first into it without a second thought. Lucy looked at her cross with uncertainty in her powers. Was she good enough to an exorcist? Taking on Wrathfire was a stupid thing to do, but it was the only thing that Lucy could think of at that time. Was there another option to take at that time?

"That's something to think about later." Envchill started, changing the subject quite quickly with a smile. "It's time to get your mind on, kid, because we got a mystery to solve!"

"Huh?" Lucy went, confused by this. Envchill clicked her fingers, and Lucy's mystery novel suddenly appeared out of nowhere in her claws. Alastor jumped at the fact that Lucy's book appeared from thin air and is floating in the air without psychic powers.

"I know that you believe in Sam, despite the fact you only known him for about two days." Envchill remarked, smirking a little. "So, as his newest friends, you and your brother are going to solve your first mystery together, with a little help from me of course, because I simply find this amusing."

Lucy blinked, confused by what's happening as Alastor came over. "What mystery? What mystery are you talking about?" she asked, still confused by what's happening.

"Isn't it obvious?" Envchill started, an excited look on her face. "If you want to save Sam, we're gonna have to solve the mystery of 'Who Killed Amos Lettigo'!"

Lucy blinked again, shocked by this. "WHAT?!"

* * *

 

**To be continued….**

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I hope you enjoyed this story so far. See ya.


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